


What I Wouldn't Sacrifice

by bamboofoxfireproductions



Category: Original Work, Shadow of the Colossus, SotC
Genre: Angst, Deal with a Devil, Death, Demons, Epic Battles, F/M, Familial Love, Family crisis, Foster Family, Gen, Gods, Injury, Intraspection, Lots of sarcasm and vulgar humor, Otherworldly beings, Re-Telling, Rival countries, Sacrifice, Surrogate Siblings, Swearing, Two characters fighting the Colossus instead of one, War, With some minor changes, reluctant companions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-07 04:33:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 85,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5443475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bamboofoxfireproductions/pseuds/bamboofoxfireproductions
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After being taken in and shown compassion when no one else would, he would do anything to repay his older brother's kindness, breaking taboo to bring the man's younger sister back from the dead and defying the Gods' will, even if it means he he'll die trying.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

They had come far, across fields, through mountain passes, more fields, woods, towns, and finally, their destination was within sight. Carved stone arches greeted them openly, old and weathered, but maintained. Thick boughs overshadowed most of the path, casting it into a mottling of light. Tree trunks and thick undergrowth shielded the understory of the surrounding woods from trespassers, leaving only one possible route: the road on which they traveled.

The traveling party of three was modestly dressed, at first glance, cloaked in light brown, nothing immediately fancy. The horses, however, were a little less modest, the lead rider's mare jet black with splashes of silver that gleamed like polished jewelry. Its tack was well-crafted, and several saddle-bags and other traveling gear hung on its rump.

The other two didn't ride animals nearly as fine as the first, but they were of good breeding stock, well fed and cared for to the trained eye. Any three of them would be prime targets for bandits with an eye for value.

Another stone structure stood ahead of them, where a pair of guards kept watch at the open gate. One approached and held up a hand, ordering him to stop in the local native tongue, demanding identification.

The lead figure tugged his hood back slightly, silvery hair and eyes visible, and the guard seemed to realize, urgently ordering the other to go find their Chief. Before more than ten minutes had passed, a man in blue robes appeared, donning a white mask that hid all but his eyes. He opened his arms in greeting, his voice curt, polite, but only tensely friendly, forcibly civil.

"Ah! Welcome, welcome. I trust you had no trouble on your journey? Seeing as you made it and, from what I can see, unharmed." He stared at them for a moment in scrutiny, as if trying to ascertain if such an observation was wholly true.

The head rider nodded, falling into the local dialect. "Our journey went fine. There was no trouble at all."

The Chief in blue robes nodded tersely, motioning into the village. "Ah, good. Very good. Why don't you come with me, so we can get to our…discussion." He paused a moment, seeming at a loss, before adding uncertainly, "If…it is your custom, I can have someone tend to your animals for you, while we walk."

The younger man shook his head as he dismounted in one fluid, graceful motion, grasping the reigns of his horse as he began to walk. "That won't be necessary."

The Chief paused another moment then nodded his head, leading the way stiffly. "Right this way then."

The dirt streets of the village were occupied by curious onlookers, eyeing the cloaked strangers who walked with the Chief, some ogling the black and silver mare led by the one walking in-toe with their leader towards a larger hut at the far end of the village.

He was observing them as well.

Silvery-blue eyes traced over the form of buildings that were a mixed construction of stone, wood, and plant materials, many of them round in construction. Tanned hides were stretched out on wood frames, and somewhere off in the shade of one open building, a man was skinning and gutting a fresh deer carcass. A handful of moderately sized fowl clucked in their path, then parted and skittered off to the sides of the road around them, before going back to milling in the middle again. A few children laughed and chased each other around, looking like they were going to bolt into the road, unaware to the traveling group, before a fussy mother pulled them aside and scolded them to be careful, pointing out the men and horses they might have otherwise been trampled by. A woman sitting just beneath the shade of her house was be-heading and flaying a small weaved basketful of fish on a wood slab, pausing to wipe her brow with the back of her forearm and curiously glancing at the passing group of five.

Further back behind the houses, a band of horses were fenced loose together with an open gate, grazing. A figure of smaller stature walked around them and refilled a trough with fresh water from a bucket, not noticing the group for several beats, then paused as he first noticed the horses from beneath a stand-alone hood and two-toned hair of brown and blond.

A noticeable scowl crossed their lips as one eye first lingered on the black and silver horse, then shifted to its rider, stopping what he was doing to place a hand on a condescendingly tilted hip. It was almost enough to make the man smirk. It wasn't hard to guess that the short teen was probably just _itching_ to go storming up to him, demanding why in Hell he was here, if only given the opportunity.

Instead, the one-eyed younger male only glared at his back as he followed the elder through the streets, until he and the one tending the horse were out of sight of each other.

"You must have had a long, tiring journey," the Chief hummed for a moment as he stood outside his building, looking them over incredulously. "Why don't you take the day to rest? We can begin negotiations afterwards. I'm sure that, after such a long ride, you would enjoy a good wash and some food, hm?"

After a brief moment of thought, the silver-haired male nodded his head slightly, satisfied with the offer. He had already planned to clean himself up and change out of his traveling clothes before holding their meeting anyway. He would need it after several days on horseback.

"Thank you," he offered with the same kind of forced civility. "I think I'll do just that."

* * *

Washing himself clean had been a great relief after traveling so many miles, soothing dull aches and getting rid of accumulated filth from their journey. A muffled yawn escaped the royal figure as he finished dressing, sitting down onto a pillow with closed eyes as another figure shuffled around him.

The female servant pulled long, silver locks back delicately and started to tie his hair, which reached all the way down his back, then started to place soft, orange feathers in amongst it until they formed a plume behind his head, and two longer ones of various fiery shades that hung to his shoulders, sparkling in the dim firelight.

Two strips of hair hung to frame either side of his face, tied by a long decorative piece that coiled around and around, until at the bottom, an ornament shaped like a dragon's head hung.

When she was done with his hair, she went about painting his face, creating a serpentine that started from the eyelids and coiled down to his cheek on either side. On the right side, the serpent figure began white and melted to a red hue, and on the left, black, melting into blue, with a silver line down the bridge of his nose.

The young man was used to the routine, and already knew when she was done without needing to be told, opening his eyes. The servant girl smiled happily at him, and he waved her away with a nod of approval. She bowed her head and exited, leaving him alone to eat in silence.

When he was finished, he stood and retrieved his swords – there were three, handles likewise fashioned after a white-and-red, black-and-blue, and silver dragons – secured them to his belt, and headed to the room where the council would be held.

His accompanying guard on this journey stood just outside the door, immediately moving to follow him and keep an eye out for any possible danger, even though there was unlikely to be any. Even so, it paid to be cautious.

He swept aside a reed screen that hung in the doorway, a few other figures sitting in wait at a short wood table, looking at him expectantly. Not a word was spoken as he crossed the room, taking up a seat on one of the empty pillows that sat around the table, kneeling.

Seeming satisfied, the blue-robed Chief, Emon, nodded his head, clearing his throat for attention.

"Well then, seeing as we are all finally here, I suppose we should begin," Emon said slowly, eyeing the other figures that were gathered carefully. He straightened himself up and leveled his gaze on the silver haired man, drawing in a deep breath. "Why don't you begin with your terms, Emperor Sanryuu?"

The silver-haired man nodded his head passively, speaking clearly and concisely, fixing the others with piercing eyes.

"The terms of the treaty for the Sanryuu Empire are as follows; first, the territory of Nagata, where we will expand the port, and open up a trade route. The route will travel west, where a bridge will be constructed over the Whispering Passage, through Benva. Sensato and the Red Glass mountains will also fall under our rule, and we will supply any materials needed to build it back up, including fresh crop for the fields and livestock to the people, to replenish their livelihood. We will leave the Silverbelt and Chillfern untouched, as it's always been. Whatever you plan to do with it is your business. The same goes for the Flooded Isles."

Emon wore a frown and nodded his head, idly stroking his chin in thought.

"These terms are… acceptable, though I am hesitant to allow a trade bridge across the top of the valley, so close…" He paused, audibly huffed, then waved for the Emperor to continue. "Please, continue with your terms. I will think about it, and we can discuss."

"In accordance with Sanryuu Imperial law, one thing that will need to end are human sacrifices. They have been outlawed within our lands for more than a century, and aren't something that I can make exception to."

Emon's frown deepened unhappily, sitting up again.

"These are less acceptable terms to us. You can't simply tell us that we suddenly stop what our culture dictates necessary because your people do things differently."

"The other points of the treaty are negotiable," Daijoudan stated levelly, unwavering. "But this condition is not."

"You cannot tell us to change the foundations of our religion simply over a truce negotiation. We do not choose our way of life, it is the Gods' Will. I do not agree to this," Emon stated more firmly, annoyed.

"Defending what you seem to think a right to sacrifice the life of others is justifying murder," Daijoudan stated, unwilling to budge.

"And what would you have us do?" the man next to Emon, Miga, demanded angrily, not appreciating the condition either. "As he said, we do not decide. It is what the Gods want of us, and they have allowed us to survive all this time, despite many hardships."

"You choose which Gods to follow. No one else does."

Miga and another man looked mortified, while Emon's eyes flashed with fury.

"Is this what you come here to do? Make us all into heathens who forsake our Gods simply because you declare it so?" he frothed. "This is not a negotiation of treaty on equal terms, this is a dictatorship! Who do you think you are? You think that your word outweighs that of the Gods? That you can just make anything you wish happen?" Before the young Emperor could speak, his expression unaffected, Emon stood and violently motioned for him to go. "We will not agree to this… this blasphemy you call a peace treaty. Be gone with you now! I want to see no more of you! If you are not gone by next mid-day, we will force you out."

Daijoudan barely reacted, standing and turning away, back toward the room that had temporarily been given to him. Even after he left, Emon was still seething.

"Can you believe the nerve of him? Give a man enough power, and he suddenly things he is a God, that he can tell you to do anything he declares." He had half a mind to spit in the direction the royal had left.

"So what now, Lord Emon?" one of the surrounding men asked. The elder hummed and turned to glance out of the window, to the receding silver-haired figure spitefully. "Without this treaty, the war continues."

"We will ask the Gods for their favor, of course," Emon stated matter-of-factly. "And the Gods will demand blood. And now," he nodded his head towards the man disappearing into the dark of the night. "…so do they."

* * *

"Daijoudan!"

The silver-haired man stopped in his tracks, turning his head. His bodyguard was on alert, ready to defend him if need be, but he waved them down to relax. The female figure that approached was shorter than him, with long black hair. She smiled in greeting as she stopped shy of him, looking uncertain, before she finally flung herself forward and hugged him tightly.

He hesitated a moment, then awkwardly hugged her back with one hand.

"It's been so long since I've seen you!"

Daijoudan nodded, but his silver eyes were elsewhere, scouring the shadows. If she was here, then _he_ couldn't be far behind.

Sure enough, after a few seconds of searching, he once again spotted the short, hooded male with the one eye and two-toned hair, leaning on a pole with arms crossed and giving the taller man a glare that would ignite him into a raging bonfire if looks could kill.

They both stared each other down for a moment, before the shorter male finally regarded him with a condescendingly hissed, " _Pretty-boy_."

"Psycho little shit," Daijoudan rebuked. The brunette's scowl twisted into an even uglier snarl, single blue eye narrowing into a slit.

"Want to say that a little closer to my face?"

"Why?" Daijoudan asked boredly. "Is it not good enough to have me looking down on your short ass from way over here?"

"Then how about I level the playing field by slicing your legs off, you conceited royal prick?" the younger boy sneered, partially drawing a blade from a polished black sheath.

"Stop it!" the girl snapped, looking between them in disapproval. Daijoudan already turned his gaze elsewhere in disregard, but the shorter male had yet to back down, the girl giving him a glare. "Faulklin, I said knock it off!"

Faulklin growled and spat towards Daijoudan's feet in a show of contempt before finally turning his body in another direction, leaning his back against the pole and pouting childishly to himself.

Satisfied, though huffing aloud in a sort of maternal frustration, she turned dark eyes to Daijoudan and regarded him happily. "What are you doing here? I heard that the fighting was ending."

Daijoudan nodded affirmatively.

"That's what I'm here working on." He didn't go on to elaborate that the meeting had gone less than well, but he intended to fix that, one way or another. He didn't know of anyone else that had more stubbornness than him, not even the one-eyed smart-mouth with the inferiority complex of a small dog. Equally stubborn, maybe, but not more so.

"That's good," the girl sighed in relief. "I'd love it if the war would finally end, and I know my older brother would too. He can go back to treating minor things again instead of war injuries." She laughed, though there was somewhat of a troubled hint to her expression. "If you haven't eaten yet, maybe you'd like to come over to our home and join us? We'd love to have you."

Faulklin noticeably scowled in their direction.

"No. Thank you, but I've already eaten, and there are things I need to do." Mostly he needed to put some thought towards how he was going to re-approach Emon and the others from the meeting, and how he was going to convince them to agree to that one term. Everything else in the negotiations, he could alter, or set aside for later. Sacrifices weren't something he was going to budge on.

He turned away as he glimpsed the girl's disappointed face, motioning for his bodyguard to follow.

"Perhaps another time, then!" she called after him, her shoulders sinking slightly. Faulklin scoffed and rolled his eye.

"Way to go, _pretty-boy_ ," he scoffed under his breath before pushing off the pole, placing his hands on his hips. "Komeko, let's go. No use standing here watching his _too-good-for-you Highness_ traipse off."

She sighed and turned to follow the shorter male, though she was still hopeful.

"He's just busy, that's all. I'm sure he'd give us his time if he had it."

Faulklin only scoffed aloud again. "We're better off without his company anyway, the asshole… we don't need his attitude around here!"

Komeko laughed softly at the irony of that statement. "Yes, I suppose. Two stubborn attitudes would be a little much, wouldn't it?" She only smiled as Faulklin cast her a dirty look.

"I am _not_ anywhere near as insufferable as that pompous, silver-haired bastard."

"Who's a pompous, silver-haired...? Well, you know the rest."

Faulklin stopped and glanced ahead at an older male with long black hair that was tied back who regarded him with kind, brown eyes.

"Who else?" the brunette-and-blond quipped, crossing his arms over his chest as he motioned over his shoulder with a flick of his head. "The _Emperor_ himself _graces_ us with his presence."

"I see," the older man hummed. "I had heard that he might be here. I guess that confirms it, though… you should try being a little nicer, Faulklin."

"To _him_?" Faulklin sneered. "Not a chance in Hell."

The man sighed. "Well, it was worth a shot, anyway. If you're done being pissed though, I have food waiting for us. Shall we?" He offered up a warm smile.

* * *

This wasn't how their night was supposed to be, or _any_ night, for that matter. It wasn't fair. More than that, it was _wrong_. This had to be some kind of sick joke.

Faulklin grit his teeth as he glared the most amount of hatred he could possibly muster, his entire body rigid and waiting to spring like a guard dog sizing up an intruder. Why _them_? Why _now_?

"This has to be a mistake," the black-haired man breathed, his eyes wide and horrified, shifting them to Komeko in disbelief.

"It's not a mistake," Emon stated, his voice filled with authority, returning the younger boy's glare with a great deal of disgust. "The Gods have chosen, Mamoru. They do not make mistakes."

Mamoru shook his head, as if trying to shake off a terrible nightmare, his gaze shifting between them and his younger sister.

"No, you can't, I- … this is too sudden. She can't be the one that they've chosen."

"She is," Emon stated again. "She has to come with us now. The Sanryuu Emperor will not agree to a proper truce. For the Gods to give us favor in turning the tides of the war, they demand blood, and they have chosen her as their sacrifice."

"Like Hell she will!" Faulklin snarled, barely managing to keep himself from throwing himself at them and beating them down himself, and that was only a matter of – very short – time.

Having run out of patience, Emon motioned to his men, who surged forward and grabbed Komeko, pulling her away from a stricken Mamoru. The man _desperately_ reached out to his sister, trying to grasp her arm. He didn't intend on fully stopping them – he didn't _think_ he was anyway – but he couldn't let her just go like that, without holding her in his arms even one more time, sharing words between the two of them, a proper goodbye at least… before watching his entire world crash and shatter as he lost the most important thing he had ever lived for.

Everything suddenly moved so fast. His sister cast a helpless, pleading look back at him as two men marched her away, while others held Mamoru back. Faulklin snarled rage and finally lunged, drawing his blade. He cut one man down the length of his arm, and tried to attack Emon, to kill the Chief himself. He didn't reach that far, a soldier grabbing him and yanking him back. Faulklin snarled at him now and tried to attack, but he was disarmed, an arm twisted behind his back until he barked in pain and released the sword. That didn't appear to be enough for them as they knocked him to the ground and kicked him a few, good, hard times under the ribs, knocking the breath out of the undersized kid, before the men were suddenly gone as quickly as they came.

Mamoru was torn between what to do, whether to follow them to his sister, or to stay by Faulklin, who was still gasping and trying to regain his breath, curled into a ball on the ground.

Mamoru couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. He couldn't _feel_ , but at the same time, he felt everything. He felt too much, and it was twisting itself inside him, until it started to break into thorns piercing every last nerve into astonishing agony.

He didn't even fully register Faulklin pushing himself up, still struggling to breathe, but adamant not to stay down.

"Damn it… all…" he wheezed, his single working eye sharp with malevolence. "I'll kill those fuckers. Every last one of them. Come on, we can still reach them, before they-"

"Faulklin, don't." Mamoru voice was impossibly soft, yet it overrode Faulklin's own snapping voice, the brunette falling silent. "This is the Gods' will."

"Fuck the gods! There's no such thing!" Faulklin screamed. "You're sister is going to die for nothing, for some stupid fairytale bullshit stories! Is that what you want? I'm not just going to sit by and-"

"Faulklin!" The boy jumped, startled by the harshness of the voice. His older brother _never_ yelled at him. Ever. It was enough to spur a sense of anxiety deep in his chest that he hadn't felt in a long time, thoroughly shaken by the tone. Tears were streaking down Mamoru's face as he leaned heavily against the wall, looking as though he was going to be physically sick, and it was like Faulklin was watching something irreplaceably fragile cracking and breaking beyond those dark brown eyes, before being swallowed up into a black hole. "…just… please… _stop_."

The brunette-blond couldn't help but tremble with a wide eye, conflicted uncertainty all but entirely consuming him. He had seen Mamoru go through many things – relief, happiness, horror, fear, longing, frustration – but he had never seen him like _this_. He had never seen the man that had been the only true support pillar in his life look so broken and hollow, and it was absolutely _terrifying_.

Mamoru turned and staggered away, but Faulklin couldn't get what he'd seen out of his mind nor the sound of the man's mournful sobbing from the other room, burned into his memory, where it would probably stay, haunting him like so many other things. This, though… this was the absolute worst of them all, and he had survived many horrifying things in his young life.

He stood up shakily and moved to stand just outside the doorway.

Lingering in the darkness, he was little more than another shadow in the night. Every muscle was still as stone, the only movement being the faintest shimmer of tears in a single blue eye. He couldn't bear to move any closer, stationed just outside the doorway as each pitiful noise tore another hole through him like the edge of a sword, exemplified by the bitter knowledge of helplessness to do anything that would remedy the suffering.

It took every shred of self-control on his part not to break into open sobs with his older guardian; to scream out in frustration; to apologize for being unable to do the slightest thing to have stopped it from happening; and to blatantly damn the ones responsible for all to hear.

Standing utterly still and listening in tortured silence was all he could do to quell the shaking, and at least _somewhat_ quiet the tumultuous storm that wanted to rage outward from the deepest recesses of his being.

Even if he were of the mind to offer verbal solace, and internally he was, he had no way with words, grasping at what he might say and coming up empty, only adding to his frustration. He tried not to dwell too much on it though, not wanting to break.

Should he approach? Go away? He wasn't sure. Human interaction wasn't exactly his strength, even if he had learned to be more open with this individual in particular, more able to express himself honestly.

Even so, uncertainty held him back, giving comfort being entirely foreign territory to the young male. He barely knew how to take comfort, much less give it.

_Fuck_ , how pathetic was he?

He sighed under his breath, and stood listening for some time, until at last, he mustered up the confidence to round the corner, just enough to stand within, looking lost as he stared at the man.

Long black hair hung in curtains on either side of his surrogate brother's face, bangs draping over a hand that covered his eyes as he sobbed openly, sitting slumped on the edge of a bed with elbow resting on his knee for support.

Faulklin hesitated again, licking his lips nervously as he debated what to do. He could probably still turn and run to find Komeko and save her from what the soldiers and that damn blue-robed bastard had in store for her… or die trying. If he succeeded, that wouldn't be so bad, would it? If it spared her from the Sacrifice, and brought happiness back to the man that had brought it to him first…

He shook his head mournfully. That wouldn't work. He _knew_ it wouldn't work. He wanted – even more than that, he _needed_ to try – but he knew it would be futile.

Feeling helpless and small, smaller than he'd ever really felt despite his lacking size, he finally crossed the room quietly and sat down with some hesitance, trying to figure out what to do. Mamoru always embraced him when he was distressed, so he figured… maybe that was the right thing to do now, snuggling in close and hugging the man's side tightly.

Mamoru flinched in surprise and lifted his head from his palm. looking at the boy with puffy, red-rimmed eyes. Faulklin looked back, lost on what he was even doing, but trying to do _something_ that might help, even a little.

Mamoru's lips twitched in what might have been an attempt at a smile, but it fell woefully short, unable to muster the strength to do so. The man turned his body slightly and hugged Faulklin back, holding him close in secure arms, and Faulklin instinctively buried his face against his chest, reveling in that familiar closeness he'd come to depend on like air.

Not a word was spoken between them as they held each other like that, though it was harder for Faulklin to do so adequately since he was far smaller.

When the crying picked up again, the man's hold tightened around him, cradling him close. It was an embrace that the boy had come to rely upon, one that offered him the only true security he'd ever known, and yet, this time he couldn't help but feel that it was a spurious, selfish comfort at best.

He didn't think as much out of blame or spite, but how could he ever think that his existence would be enough to offer any sort of solace? The man might have become his older brother, but he was little more than a pitied stray by comparison of what the man had lost.

Nothing would be able to fill the hole that'd been left, of that he was certain, and most definitely not by someone as damaged as he was. And yet, what else could he do?

There was no cure for death. Not within the hands of mortal Men, though…there was one way. A way that was strictly taboo.

Then again, what did it matter? He'd never been _one of them_ anyway. They had no interest in counting him among their ranks, even if he inhabited the same village.

All but his brother, and… his brother's sister.

It wasn't as though anyone else counted him as another one of their own, allowed him to take part in their traditions, or as equal to them – being _the outsider_. So what would it matter to them if he went against their beliefs? Beliefs he didn't share in the slightest. Beliefs that had robbed his brother of what he valued most in the world, even more than he valued the surrogate younger brother that he held now.

Faulklin recalled words he had heard spoken at least a handful of times...

* * *

_"That place…began from the resonance of intersecting points…'_

_'They are memories replaced by ens and naught and etched into stone.'_

_'Blood, young sprouts, sky – and the one with the ability to control beings created from light…'_

_'In that world, it is said that if one should wish it, one can bring back the souls of the dead…'_

'… _but to trespass upon that land is strictly forbidden."_

* * *

The youth knew what he had to do, and that it'd be no easy task, if the stories around the fire that the Elder had spoken of bore any truth to them.

He waited in complacent silence as the night wore on, and exhaustion overcame the grieving older male, pitching him into deep sleep.

Moving carefully, the brown-haired teen carefully maneuvered out of his grasp and from the house. A black bird waiting just outside perched on his shoulder lightly. The village was dark, with only dimly lit braziers scattered about the village, providing decent cover.

The huge stone temple at the top of the village was entirely abandoned as Faulklin entered, looking about for guards or the Elder, but he saw none. The only figure was one wrapped in a large cloth at the far end, laid out across the alter, where a few torches provided light to see.

He drew in a few apprehensive breaths as he walked silently forward and up the short flight of steps to where the body lay covered. He reached out a hand and tentatively pulled away the folds to see her face, still soft-looking and at peace, though he could be almost entirely certain she had not died that way.

He jumped as he thought he heard something and whirled around, scanning the long hall of the temple for some sort of enemy, but he saw nothing. For several beats, he didn't move, not trusting to turn his back just yet, but still nothing stirred. He supposed it had only been the crackle of one of the torches.

Turning around again, he put the folds back as they were and looked at the sword sitting parallel to her body, sheathed.

_The sacred sword_.

He had already formulated his plan and what he would have to do, and he would have to do it quickly. He couldn't risk being found here, much less found leaving. Much less to do what he planned on doing.

He reached a hand out to grasp the sword. He heard another sound. Someone grabbed him by the collar of his hood and violently wrenched him around, the lithe male choking out in surprise as he was lifted off his feet.

When he stopped, his single blue eye met silver.

"Y-you-" he started to stutter, his anger boiling over, struggling in Daijoudan's firm grasp and kicking out at the taller man. "You lowly, motherfucking, pompous, son of a bitch! You were supposed to be here to negotiate a truce and make peace! Because of you, she's _dead_! I should fucking kill you right now!"

"Shut up," Daijoudan spat, making the teen see red, kicking harder. If he weren't almost frothing like a rabid dog, he might have felt smug at the wince he managed to get out of the man as he hooked Daijoudan solidly under the ribs.

"Let me go!"

"Why?" Daijoudan demanded sternly, giving him a hard look. "You think I'd let your dumb ass just take the sword and go running off on your own with it?"

"None of your fucking business!" Faulklin snarled, barely of the mind to keep his voice down at all. The brown-haired young man finally tired of his struggles and fell limp, dangling and out of breath. "I'm going to bring her back…" he spat finally, huffing and glaring loathing at Daijoudan, simply _daring_ him to say or do something to try to stop him. "I'm _not_ going to let it end like this."

Daijoudan stared at him for several long seconds, and every one that passed only made Faulklin's blood pressure rise all the higher.

"Not without me, you're not," Daijoudan finally stated, catching the boy off guard. Faulklin's eye widened.

"What the Hell do you mean _'not without me'_?"

"I told you I'm not going to let your dumb ass go running off with the sword to do it alone."

Suddenly it clicked, and Faulklin wasn't sure whether to sit and stare in pure shock, or if he should be absolutely livid.

How dare he. How _dare_ he?! After he had been the one to cause this atrocity in the first place!

"No. Fucking. Way. You've done enough!" Faulklin spat. The hold on his collar tightened, and it was suddenly much harder to breathe.

"Try and stop me, and I'll beat your ass so hard into the ground your teeth with grind to dust against the floor," Daijoudan promised in a low, dangerous, authoritative tone that managed to intimidate the smaller male, only adding to his fury. "Otherwise, make yourself useful, and retrieve my horse, before the entire fucking village and every soldier in a five mile radius becomes wise to our intentions."

He finally let Faulklin go, and the teen almost fell back onto his ass when his shoes hit the ground. He gave the larger man a murderous look, but for whatever reason, turned to obey.

He snuck carefully through the village and retrieved two horses – Daijoudan's black and silver mare, and his own almost-black-brown stallion – and carefully maneuvered them to the front gates. Daijoudan met him there immediately, carrying the corpse and blade with him.

Faulklin immediately swiped the sword away before Daijoudan could stop him, the two exchanging a deep, challenging glare, before Daijoudan mounted his own steed with Komeko's body cradled against him, nudging his horse to walk once they were settled.

They went as quietly as they could until the village was well behind them, then kicked the two horses to take off into a wild sprint, into the deep, dark, southern woods.

Though unseen in the shadow of night, there was a harsh gleam of determination in Faulklin's single good eye.

_I'm not going to accept your death the way it is. I'll do whatever it takes to bring you back._


	2. The Consecrate Task

The two horses galloped into the mountains where a stone structure to the path stood. To the left, the rocks fell away steeply, while an impassible wall ascended to the right. Faulklin was wary of going too fast on such treacherous terrain, but time was of the essence, and they needed to get as far as they could before anyone possibly followed.

He only slowed for an open gap in the path that fell away into the ravine below, which his mount barely cleared close behind Daijoudan's mare, to continue on.

They loosened up a bit on urgency as they reached a stretch of woodlands littered in fallen leaves. The moon had already passed its zenith, the white orb barely visible through a break in the trees, but the forest was otherwise cast in ominous, disquieting shadows.

A faint mist drifted off of a pond between the trees, a few frogs croaking, but it was otherwise silent and still, as if the forest was just as dead as the burden they carried. As the forest cleared, and dawn light began to filter in as a veil of gold behind the clouds, it started to rain, and they briefly took shelter under an outcropping of rock.

They couldn't be slowed down though… they had to keep moving. So, ignoring the drizzle falling from the sky in a steady hum, the two riders pressed onward, through sparse grass fields dotted only with a handful of trees.

At last, the brunette spied the precursor to what they'd set out to find, two identical stone structures standing vigil as the border between this land and the one he was intent upon. A space just wide enough for a horse and rider made the path to the forbidden land, forcing them to enter single-file.

Passing through, the wind blasted his face as it opened up to a stone bridge, and far below by hundreds of feet, sprawling desert; rounded dunes of rock; grasslands far beyond. And at the end of the bridge, an impressive, rising stone spire that must have stood a mile tall, like a great fang of the earth trying to bite the sky. Summed into only one word, he would call it breathtaking.

The pair paused a moment to take it in, Faulklin's horse shifting with an impatience usually shared by the young male, while Daijoudan's stood still. Faulklin soon snapped out of his reverie, and they continued forward.

So close to finalizing his task…and yet the hard part had not even begun. Not by a long shot.

At the far end of the bridge, a stone door opened. Daijoudan filed in first with Komeko, and Faulklin nudged his steed to follow, sunlight gleaming in over a short flight of stairs onto a stone platform. Snaking around the inside wall was a long, winding pathway of stone leading all the way to the bottom of the tower.

A shallow pool of water, perfectly circular, stood at the very bottom near an open archway that led into a long, weathered chamber of finely carved rock. Sixteen humongous, intricate idols watched them, eight on each side of the room adjacent each other that gave off a spine-tingling, sickening presence which left knees weak and breath shallow. Each one seemed more horrifying than the last. Many were serpentine in nature, though some looked like they might have represented a bear or lion, and others like humanoid demons.

These couldn't possibly be the Colossi that legends spoke of, could they? The legends were innumerable and terrifying, speaking of beasts too large for the imagination, but then, stories had a way of exaggerating.

The hooves of both his and Daijoudan's animals echoed off the walls, eluding to an ominous emptiness, devoid of any life. Not a single creature stirred in the filtering of gold dust that misted across the ground, other than their own intruding selves. The caw of the bird on Faulklin's shoulder bounced off every surface more loudly than Faulklin thought it should have.

As they reached the steps of the open alter, the two dismounted stiffly, though Daijoudan did a better job of hiding it as he pulled Komeko from his mare's saddle and ascended the steps.

Faulklin grasped the sacred sword by the hilt and followed with a scowl. Patches of light beamed in from between large pillars, welcoming the living and the dead with chilling stillness.

Daijoudan laid her down on the alter and peeled back the folds of the cloth, revealing the soft contours of her round cheeks and gentle curve of her nose and brows, and long, black eyelashes. The faintest breeze stirred her hair and dress faintly.

Faulklin had to grit his teeth and struggle not to break down as a sick feeling twisted in his gut. She looked as if she was in a deep, tranquil sleep, but he knew better, and the thought only made the reality worse.

No matter if this worked or didn't, he'd make them pay. Those _bastards_ would pay for this, without a doubt. He would slaughter all of them without remorse by the time this finished playing out, no matter if it was the last thing he ever did. For now though, he had to focus on the task at hand. First he had to get her back, or at least _try_. _Then_ he could worry about revenge.

He had no idea if any of this would work or if the legends held any merit whatsoever. He wasn't a religious person. He didn't believe in gods, demons, or spirits, having always regarded such notions as superstitious dribble used to control the weak and stupid.

But now... _fuck_ , he was willing to believe almost anything right now if it would fix what had been done.

A repugnant, queasy feeling twisted ice through his gut, and at first he mistook it as grief trying to take hold. The feeling only grew, and the horses whinnied nervously and danced behind him. His crow shuffled, croaking just before it took off into the open air outside.

In an instant, both males whirled around, Faulklin grasping the hilt of the sacred sword and Daijoudan just barely flicking one of his own blades out by the guard, the two ready for any sort of enemy that might appear.

A black mist began to ebb from the ground before growing in mass and taking shape as an unmoving wind hissed around the chamber with what might have been words he couldn't understand.

Faulklin narrowed his eye at the shadows which took on the vaguest form of Men, but their very existence was far more vile and stifling, raising the hairs on the back of his neck and filling him with a hollowing cold that almost left him breathlessly frozen where he stood.

The shadow creatures appeared to sniff the air as they prowled forward in a motion much akin to hopping apes, mannerisms notably predatory.

The Shadows lunged towards them and Faulklin reacted by drawing the sacred sword from its scabbard. The blade shone brilliantly as he drew it, leaving a streak of light in the wake of its wide arc.

The Shadows hissed and jumped back, stopping and staring without eyes before every one of them vaporized into nothing, as if blown away by a non-existent wind. Faulklin still didn't relax, his senses trained for an ambush or another enemy intent on attacking them.

Instead, the sky rang with a portentous, augural peel of thunder that sounded startlingly like it carried the faintest murmur of many voices. A brief flash of lightning further illuminated the circle of light in the center of the chamber's ceiling. The walls radiate an unearthly presence many times more potent and stifling than the shadowly beings from moments before.

Many overlapping voices – male and female – seemed to resonate from every crevice and plane of existence around them; from the chamber, within the mind, the sky and earth…

" _ **Hm? Thou possesses the ancient sword?"**_ The voice paused as though in contemplation. _**"So Thou art mortal…"**_

"Y… you're the one they call Dormin, right?" Faulklin internally cursed the way his voice trembled involuntarily, finding it difficult to breathe properly, though why that was, he could only guess. "The one who shepherds the souls of the dead?"

" _ **Thou art correct… We are the ones known as Dormin."**_

Faulklin drew in a long, deep breath to steady his nerves.

"She was sacrificed," he spat in a venomous tone, the ire in his voice echoing off the walls along with the words that carried it. He couldn't, nor did he want to, mask the hatred in his voice for those that had committed it. He had always hated the people of that village, ever since he first arrived there three years before, but it had never been so strong as it was now. "All for some stupid religious nonsense. I never believed the stories… but I need her soul back, more than anything else in this world, and this is the only way."

The various voices laughed softly in unison, like a mere murmur on the breeze, as if humoring children that didn't understand the implications of what they were asking for. Faulklin also caught Daijoudan watching him in a disapproving sort of way, but the teen only returned his look with a narrowed glare.

**_"That maiden's soul? Souls that are once lost cannot be reclaimed…is that not the law of mortals?"_** Faulklin was silent, trying to ignore the twisting dread in his gut that tried telling him how foolish, how _inane_ , such a request was. After a short pause, however, the voice continued. _**"With that sword, however…it may not be impossible. That is, of course, if thou manage to accomplish what We askest."**_

"Tell me what I have to do," Faulklin demanded without hesitation, sword still held in his hand, gleaming faintly in the shadows.

_" **Behold the idols along the**_ _ **wall,"**_ Dormin explained in a tone that could have been mild amusement. _**"Thou art to destroy all of them. But those idols cannot be destroyed. Not by the mere hands of a mortal."**_

Faulklin's single eye traced over each of the statues as Dormin gave his conditions. He wondered why Dormin would ask them to destroy something that they physically could not, unless only that the being enjoyed toying and sewing helpless frustration into them, but Faulklin figured, and not unrightly so, that there was a way.

_**"** _ _**In this land there exists Colossi that are the incarnations of these idols. If thou defeat those Colossi, the idols shall fall. "** _

He nodded his head slightly. "I understand, and I-"

He didn't get to continue as Daijoudan grabbed his upper arm, tight enough to hurt, and glowered at him warningly. "You should shut your trap, before you start agreeing to risky promises you can't hope to keep."

Faulklin only glared and yanked his arm away harshly, sneering, "If you're scared, then _you_ go ahead and run home with your tail between your legs, Silvylocks. No one asked you to tag along or help anyway."

"That's not what I mean, you damn-"

"I agree to these terms!" Faulklin shouted, before Daijoudan could interrupt again. The silver-haired man rolled his eyes with a scoff of irritation and disbelief.

**_"But heed this-"_** Dormin began again, that same augural tone of caution exemplified in its many voices. _**"The price you pay may be heavy indeed."**_

"I'm prepared for that," Faulklin muttered in a sick sort of resignation. He hadn't expected that, were the tales true, that it would be easy nor without some sort of steep toll to bring one back from the dead. He imagined that such things were taboo for a reason.

He wondered to himself how big these colossi might be. Certainly larger than himself. He had no doubts that these foes would be nothing short of behemoths and easily fiercesome. Easily deadly.

**_"Very well…"_** Dormin spoke, the sky seeming to resonate and ring with grim approval as the presence began to fade, signaling the last of its instructions. **_"Raise thy sword by the light, and head to the place where the sword's light gathers. There, thou shalt find the Colossi thou art to defeat."_**

Faulklin finally found it easier to breathe again, but such thoughts cut short early as Daijoudan decked him over the back of the head. Not lightly so, either.

"Damn it!" Faulklin snarled, whirling on the other male and having half a mind to slice him in half with the sword in-hand. Unfortunately, experience had taught him that such a fantasy did not come to pass easily when it came to the condescending, royal prick.

"Just when I thought you couldn't get any fucking dumber," Daijoudan sneered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"And just what the Hell is that supposed to mean, you conceited bastard?"

Daijoudan rolled his eyes again.

"It means exactly what it sounded like. You have absolutely no clue how to conduct yourself when it comes to pacts with otherworldly beings, do you?" Daijoudan narrowed his eyes at the runt pointedly. "Do you have even the slightest inkling of exactly what's at stake when you made that agreement?"

"Of course I do," Faulklin growled.

"Do you _really_?" Daijoudan demanded, scoffing again. "I highly fucking doubt it. If you die in this, you'll give up more than your mortal life, and there's no telling what you'll be giving up even if you succeed. Either way, you're likely to walk away losing more than you'll gain, agreeing to that beings' terms so fucking recklessly without even thinking about the possible consequences."

"It doesn't matter," Faulklin retorted matter-of-factly, whistling for Rebel and mounting the stallion's saddle. The short adolescent looked even more the dwarf than usual when compared to his horse. "It's not as if I have much of anything to lose already anyway."

Daijoudan only shook his head in exasperation as Faulklin flicked the reigns, riding outside and across the fields.

"Fucking suicidal idiot is determined to damn himself no matter what," the Emperor muttered under his breath, walking to the side of his mare, Ayametsuki, and mounting to follow.


	3. The Minotaur

The air in these forbidden grounds was clean and clear. Untainted by the smells of war and mankind's advancements, but tinged with the scent of things old and covered in moss. By the time they reached the cliff face where the sword's light had directed them as instructed by the ones known as Dormin, the clear, sunlit air had been cast over in shadow by the rising stone and the air slightly more dusty, creating a thin veil of brown, but it still smelled only of raw earth.

A low rumble reverberated from the outcropping of stone above. Faulklin glanced upward , listening intently like a dog on the hunt that had just heard its prey ahead. Rebel's ears angled uncomfortable and it danced to the side with a snort. His crow circled above and landed on a fallen pillar on the path above, cawing. Daijoudan's eyes scoured the ledges above warily, before shifting to Faulklin, but the kid still wasn't wavering at all. The stubborn fool was adamant to continue, even lacking the knowledge of exactly what he might be up against.

Looking over the walls of stone, it was easy to tell that the cliffs were at least partially man-made, or at least modified by such. There were unnaturally straight, uniform indents that made spiraling square patterns and boxes, long weathered by time, but still visible. They seamlessly melted into natural stone, probably once carved in much the same way, but worn away until the patterns were no longer recognizable. Thick lichen and vines clung to the cliff sides, grabbing every available crevice they could locate to take root.

Of all the things both were certain of, it was that there were no easy pathways or stairs up. They would have to find their own way, and climb.

Without a word, Faulklin swung down from the saddle of his horse and made his way to the wall where the plants covered, gripping them and hauling himself up them. The little bastard made it look _easy._ Far easier than Daijoudan knew he could pull off, though to be fair, Faulklin was far smaller and lighter. He recalled something about that; rumors, of the now all but extinct Kråke clan and their ability to scale even the most treacherous mountains like no one else could, and if his memory still held, Faulklin was the sole survivor of that clan. The man wasn't one to always believe in rumors, but it seemed their foul personalities were more than myth too, if the brunette was any model to go by.

While Faulklin climbed, Daijoudan stripped off some of his outer wear; his long cloak - which he folded into Ayametsuki's saddle bag - his robes, took out the decorative pieces in his hair, and re-secured his three swords to his side. Now all that he had on were the bare essentials, a black sleeveless shirt, pants, and shoes. Anything more would get in the way.

The silver-haired male approached the wall now to find Faulklin had already reached the first ledge, not even slightly winded, and balanced precariously on the balls of his feet at the edge. There was a smug look on his face as Daijoudan had a bit more trouble pulling himself up one arduous bit at a time.

"What's the matter? Cliff-climbing not one of the skills that they taught his _royal assness_?"

"It won't be a skill you're proficient at either once I reach you and cut off those limbs of yours along with that smart mouth, and at your height, you can't afford to lose that many inches."

"Oh, I'm real scared," Faulklin snarked, perfectly content where he was safely above the other. "Here's an idea. Instead of that, I can just kick you back down to the bottom. Indent that pretty, girlish face of yours. It'll probably be an improvement." He looked as though he was legitimately contemplating it. Which, he was, for no greater purpose than the sick satisfaction of getting a free cheap shot. It wasn't every day he had the Emperor of the Sanryuu Empire's head at perfect kicking height, and even if it was the last thing he ever did, it'd feel _so_ good.

For one reason or another, he decided not to, instead turning his attention to finding his way up the rest of the path. A small gap was easily leapt over, before he had to scale a shorter ledge, and clear another leap over a break in the path. Waiting on a sapling that had hooked it's roots to a fallen pillar, Khu croaked and batted his wings slightly as Faulklin approached, fluttering up to the top of the cliff only a short ways higher. He crawled through the space under the fallen pillar, since it was too high for him to climb over, and ascended the rest of the way. The last part of the climb was the hardest, but he didn't pause, instead heading further in to the small, lifted valley.

Khu croaked at him and swaggered a few steps along the path before turning and flying off the other direction, the ground rumbling like a small earthquake had begun to tremor the earth. The smell of fresh tilled earth filled his nostrils as the ground shook violently beneath him.

Faulklin drew his sword quietly and watched, eye widening slightly and pulse beginning to pick up, as a massive hoof flew overhead, dropping debris as it went. What he would call a small mountain lumbered past from behind a wall of rock, kicking up a cloud of dust with every earth-shattering step, and leaving stone fractured beneath its feet.

_This_ must be the Colossus that Dormin had spoken of.

It resembled a minotaur of sorts. Short, stubbed horns atop its head. Fur traveled down from its head to its chest, ending at a stone structure just below where the ribs should be. On its back were blackened platforms, two below hefty shoulders, and one in the center of its lower back. Below that was strong legs that seemed to have smashed through some unwary temple and become stuck in its pillars. The giant carried a large club lined in deadly, steel pikes and its wrists were shackled with braces of stone. From an unmoving mask of stone that made up its face, two blue lights that could only be assumed were eyes shone brilliantly to cut through the shadows. A squall of birds noisily circled overhead in a storm, landing here and there as the Colossus lumbered about, only to be shrugged off by the faintest of motions.

The boy ran forward and ducked behind some rocks for cover, glancing out at the towering monstrosity as it quaked the earth with every foot fall. The trees nearby were rattled by their roots, threatening to fall under the force of the vibration. Each step jarred his teeth; his bones; his body. Every one rumbled all the way down to his marrow like a drum.

With each second he watched the thing lumber away from them, he was calculating, sizing it up and taking note of the stony structures that protruded from its massive body, and the thick, shaggy fur that lined part of its form bouncing with each step.

He had known that whatever beasts Dormin had tasked him with slaying, they would not be easy to fell, but this was putting things in a far, _far_ more daunting perspective than it had first sounded. Surely none of his blows would even _register_ on such a goliath.

"Still think you can do it?" Faulklin nearly jumped. In his focus and having his attention on the Colossus, he had almost entirely forgotten about Daijoudan, let alone that the asshole might be sneaking up on him.

"Of course," Faulklin muttered under his breath.

"You sure about that? Shaking like a damn leaf in the breeze?"

"It's not me. The ground is just shaking too damn much."

Daijoudan scoffed disbelief, before giving him a serious, sidelong look. "Once you start, you probably won't get the opportunity to back out. Now's your only chance to turn tail without any consequence."

"Not a fat chance in Hell! If you're so scared, then go find someone else to be your shining knight and coddle you, _princess._ No one asked you to be here."

"That's not what I was saying you fucking sociopathic midget!" Daijoudan bristled.

Faulklin wasn't about to voice the same fear, but for _fuck's sake_ , how was he supposed to kill something so imposing that even the larger one between the two males was barely a mouse under its hoof by comparison?

His eyes trailed up its muscled shoulders and the platforms on its back. Just beneath them was a thick matting of fur, even thicker than the lichen and vines he had used to climb up the cliff wall. If those had been strong enough to hold his slight weight, then it was guaranteed the beast's fur would be able to hold him.

If he managed to climb up all the way before getting himself killed, then maybe, if he lodged his sword through the top of its skull and pierced its brain...

Without even humoring Daijoudan with a response, Faulklin hopped over the rock and dashed, his single eye watching its retreating form intensely. If he was quick and moved just right, maybe he could even find a way to climb up it before it had even noticed him. By the time Faulklin got even _close_ to the lumbering giant, he was feeling out-of-breath, having to work hard to sprint the distance towards the giant, despite that he was relatively quick. The distance that took him many hard bounds to cross was an effortless step on the part of the Colossus, making it that much harder to get close.

Even so, he couldn't stop. Not until this thing was good and dead…or until he was. There was still no guarantee he was going to survive this encounter, never mind one with the other fifteen of these beasts.

Tiring of giving chase, he drew his bow from his back, nocking an arrow, and let it fly into the minotaur's ankle where there was fur. With any luck, it would still have vulnerabilities, and perhaps he could render it slower since he highly doubted it would be enough to immobilize such a gargantuan being. Instead, all it did was stick with an anti-climactic, barely audible twang.

It didn't even _feel_ it.

The Colossus stopped in its tracks. Maybe he spoke too soon. It started to turn, slowly, and the blue lights on its head turned an angry shade of red.

Faulklin cursed under his breath and sprinted, circling in the same direction it turned as he drew closer to stay out of its line of sight. One massive hoof lifted above him as it swiveled, and he vaulted forward, summersaulting across the ground until he was behind it. Its heavy step kicked up shattered rock, small shards pelting him, but he ignored their sting. He took a second to suck in a breath of dust-laden air before he scrambled to his feet again, and ran for its furred ankle.

The shaking earth of its steps almost made him stumble as he grew close. Not waiting for it to either crush or notice him(and _then_ crush him), he leapt up and grabbed the thick matting of fur on the back of one leg, climbing up. In more annoyance than anything, the minotaur tried to shake him off its leg with a few flicking shakes.

A sickly glow appeared where a black crevice formed, the blade at his side pulsing light in its sheath, as if beckoning to be satisfied with the blood of the beast. Almost entirely winging it at this point and having nary the slightest idea what he was supposed to be doing, he unsheathed the sword, hefted the blade upward with the point angled significantly, and drove it down into the small fissure for all his worth.

An ear-splitting bellow of pain rung through him like the strike of a gong. An inky blackness lightly sprayed from the wound. The leg buckled, and the titanic creature pitched forward. Its stony knee hit the ground with shattering force that sent bone-deep vibrations through the teen's body, rattling his teeth. It took him a moment to recover, but even as he was trying to do so, the creature started to move again.

He himself leapt up and grabbed a fistful of hair along its thigh, the surface of its calf disappearing from underneath his feet as he was hefted a few yards above the ground.

He clamored for a foothold as he dangled, his heart hammering hard, and his mind barely believing what he was doing, even as he did it.

He finally managed to find some purchase and heaved himself up one arduous fistful of thick shag at a time, each movement of the behemoth making him momentarily lose his footing as he tried to climb. He finally reached the lowest platform at the lower base of its back, collapsing flat onto it to regain his strength. Even then, his single eye searched over its form, trying to get a sense of what points on its body to attack to fell it, but nothing immediately grabbed his attention.

The immense beast shivered and shook, trying to knock its resting assaulter to the ground to be crushed mercilessly. Faulklin flattened himself against the cool, stone surface of the platform as the Colossus tried to get rid of him, sliding one way and another a few inches, but not enough to toss him. It backed into the cliff wall, scraping against rocks and trying to crush the unwanted hitch-hiker against it.

He heard a shrill whistle, one that he recognized as human-made, and guessed that _pretty-boy_ must be getting involved now, in whatever useless way he was probably trying to contribute.

The Colossus turned and started to walk again. Lying still, Faulklin hoped it would have forgotten him entirely at this point.

_Well at least he's useful as bait._

"Hurry it up, you jackass flea!"

Getting to his feet and rolling with the movement of the giant, so as not to be thrown off by its sheer momentum, he leapt up and fisted another clump of fur, starting to climb. His arms trembled as he crawled up its back, adrenaline making him shake and the blood roar in his ears so that he barely heard the other male yelling at him to hurry up.

Faulklin wanted to shout back, _'get your own ass up here if you think it's so easy!'_ , but he held his tongue, not wanting the Colosus to remember him. Besides, he needed to focus.

_Focus._

He managed to reach the next platform, and his eye was drawn by the faint appearance of a glow on one of its arms, below the shoulder. He crawled closer, the glow growing more pronounced, and he noticed that it wasn't just a spot of light, but a specific pattern. His sword glowed more intensely as he neared as well, even more than it had at the crack in the Colossus' leg.

After composing himself, the teen leapt forward and grasped a fistful of fur, dangling in the air by one arm, scrambling to get a better grip. The Colossus that had been newly intent on Daijoudan paused and shook its arm in annoyance, the glyph now shining with an intensity that was almost blinding at such close range.

Faulklin managed to get a good hold with three of his limbs, arching upward with his blade pointed purposefully, and sunk the sharp edge in deep, holding on for dear life as the monster howled in pain and tried to thrash its attacker off. Faulklin held on with an immense amount of strain, his arms and the tight coil of fingers woven deeply into the thick hairs protesting, while at the same time every instinct was screaming for him to hold on just a second more, every second that passed.

He was hardly relieved when the thrashing stopped, the glow not having dimmed the slightest. Even so, it had caused the monster pain where other attempts had barely done anything, so he figured he had to be onto _something_.

It jolted, as if something hit it, and turned its attention at something else, swinging its mace into a cliff wall and causing a small cascade of falling rocks to pile below. Faulklin was imagining a red splatter of what would be left of the Emperor after the beast was probably done pounding him, but as it turned out, it missed. Faulklin certainly as Hell wasn't relieved, but he wasn't sure whether or not he should be disappointed.

Sucking in several breaths as the creature started to move, once again distracted by Daijoudan, he yanked the blade outward. More blackness that he could only assume to be blood sprayed from the wound in excess, pelting his face and clothes, before evaporating like mist. The Colossus bellowed and twitched its arm in pained annoyance.

It raised its club again to take out its anguished frustration on the other man on the ground, and take off half the cliff wall with him, but its aim flew off course instead as Faulklin pierced deeply into its arm again.

It twisted; writhing; flailing its upper limbs as if trying to punch or club something in front of it, rather than dangling from the back of its arm.

Faulklin clenched his jaw, not sure how much longer he could keep hold. He dislodged the blade, and then for a third time, sheathed it deep into the behemoth's arm, up to the hilt. Another thunderous roar echoed around the cliffs and the glyph suddenly disappeared.

When he pulled the blade free, he lost some of his grip as it flailed, tumbling down its arm towards the ground. He twisted around, struggling for a hold on _something_ to break his fall, managing to snag a ledge off one of the stone shackles on its wrist. His grip failed again as it flung its arm forward, sending him the last few feet to the ground and skidding across the dust several yards, a hiss emphasizing each roll until he finally stopped.

Dust choked the air where he'd landed, and it took several moments for Faulklin to manage a single breath, winded by his harsh tumble across the rocky soil, which was littered in sharp fragments kicked up by the giant.

The Colossus groaned, raising its mace to smash the small brunette. One nuisance to be obliterated from its presence, the other soon to follow.

Faulklin wanted to move, telling himself that he _needed_ to, but his body didn't want to respond as quickly as it should've. Instead, he watched as the behemoth raised its club, intent on squashing him like a mosquito that had buzzed a few too many times in someone's ear.

Maybe he shouldn't even try to keep battling… he was already exhausted from trying to fight the damn thing, like a mouse trying to kill an elephant. What made him think he could actually do it? He could probably run. Climb back down the cliffs, get his horse, and go home.

Or he could simply let it smash him into an unrecognizable pulp of bloody bits. At least then he wouldn't have to face his brother with either his cowardice or his failure. Hell, he probably wouldn't even want to see the boy, whose worth was far less than that of the man's baby sister. He could never hold anywhere near as much value to Mamoru as she had, a fact that he had bitterly half-accepted some time ago already.

Daijoudan appeared above him, grabbing Faulklin tightly by the upper arm, and pulled hard, throwing them both out of the path of the Colossus' swing and onto the hard stone several feet away. Even though it had missed, Faulklin could still feel the full weight of that blow reverberate through his entire being.

"For someone hailing from such an efficiently vicious and well-known clan, you sure do leave things half-assed," Daijoudan spat, scrambling to his feet and whirling.

"Don't patronize me," he snapped back irritably, staring up at the Minotaur in calculation as he got up a little more slowly, even though some back part of his mind was saying to simply give up and let it step on him. He'd be lucky to survive this encounter, but there were also the fifteen other Colossi to consider afterwards.

Even so, there was a certain spark of determination, a stubbornness that refused to let this be the end or let him simply roll over and die, despite his quickly waning odds. Any other time he might've already said " _to Hell with it"_ and done just that, but he would do anything at this point for the one person in the world that had actually given him something to look forward to.

Even if it cost him his life, he'd do it. There was no way in all planes of Hell that he wouldn't.

With that in mind, he dashed forward, aiming to get behind his enemy. He was exhausted, but he was already thinking up a way to make up the difference and beat the Colossus before it could be the end of him. Daijoudan immediately tried to distract it again for him, cracking it squarely in the head with a well-thrown stone, with little affect other than to draw its attention.

But whatever. It didn't matter to him if the guy wanted to get himself killed.

Faulklin ran around the beasts legs, coming behind it. Having already sheathed his sword, he drew his bow, loosing an arrow into the beast's thigh, and then another. The monster howled with irritation more than pain, and started to turn, but Faulklin was already prepared for that, darting behind it, never once letting it spot him. He loosed a few more into its thigh and the side of its rear, all of them close together and in a slightly uniform row up it.

Stowing his bow back over his torso, he rushed forward, still dodging out of sight as it turned to face the miniscule pest. Leaping up, he grabbed onto the fur of its ankle, scaling up, and using the arrows as a foothold to make it a slightly easier climb. One or two snapped underfoot, but for the most part, it worked as he had hoped to support his weight for the few seconds he needed to scale up the platform.

It quickly forgot about him again, and Faulklin guessed Daijoudan was responsible for that.

Keeping focus on his own task first and foremost, he climbed up the rest of the way onto the mass of its broad shoulders, needing a second to regain his breath.

He had known already that the Colossus was nothing short of a small mountain, but being at the top of it made him more fully appreciate just _how_ big the monster was.

And his dumb ass was actually daring to fight the damn thing.

He re-drew the sword from his belt, noting it starting to shine more strongly as he crawled towards its head, and another glyph began to glow into existence the closer he got. Before he'd fully reached it, he stood up and held the hilt with both hands, and ran the rest of the way. He stumbled slightly as it continued its rolling gait, but caught himself from falling, not with his hands this time but by driving the blade down into the center of its skull with a hard, sickening _CRACK_.

A caterwaul followed and the minotaur bucked its head violently, shaking its entire form to rid itself of the boy and blade, both of which held fast. It persisted, trying to throw him back, then forward, then one side to another. Faulklin's arms strained with fatigue at this point as the beast thrashed, but it just _wouldn't go down_.

He grit his teeth, pulling the blade out and ignoring a fountain of black blood that sprayed into the sky, and immediately plunged it down again, hearing another echoing, bestial roar as it tried to throw him into the atmosphere with another toss of its head. He held on tight to the blade. Stubbornness and fading adrenaline were the only variables still maintaining his grip on the handle at this point. He shifted the blade; jerking it, twisting it, trying to kill the damn thing and just be done with it, entirely fed up with fighting it at this point as a mist of black blood sprayed one side of his face.

_Die, damn it! Fall! Fucking die already!_

He gave the blade another harsh twist, another nauseating _crack_ resounding from the wound, and the beast gave a violent, arduous spasm, pitching forward.

Its knees hitting the stone harshly rattled the very foundations of the cliff, then the full bulk of its chest crashed into the ground, pulling Faulklin through the air behind it like a flag in the wind as he kept a death-grip on the sword's pommel so as not to plummet underneath the felled giant as it collapsed.

He could still hear bits of small rubble clattering on the ground and cracks forming in the stone. The squall of startled birds continued to rage overhead, but it was fading.

He stayed where he was at first, his fingers locked around the blade and not yet willing to let go, his small frame rattling with adrenaline and exhaustion.

He finally dredged up the strength to pull the sword free and stumbled back a few paces, still on his feet, but feeling as if only just _barely_ so. A small, manic sort of chuckle escaped through his panting breaths and he hung his head slightly, shaking it.

Gods. How was he going to be able to do this fifteen more times…?

There was a scoff.

"You actually managed to kill the damn thing." Was that Daijoudan trying to be impressed, or condescending? He couldn't tell. _Everything_ about the pompous ass came across as condescending.

"Jealous?"

"Hardly."

An almost deafening silence had blanketed the surrounding area by comparison of how it had sounded while fighting the fallen goliath, and an unsettling feeling washed over him as he watched black shadows engulf the mass of the dead Colossus like a funerary cloak, while a tempest of black worm-like tendrils slithered from its form and into the sky.

He watched their strangely fascinating forms writhe angrily in the sky, and only had enough time to curse under his breath as they shot towards him now as though finding their target before plunging into his gut.

His mouth gaped in what might've been a scream of agony, but only a strangled, choked noise escaped as the tendrils vanished into him entirely. His single blue eye rolled back into his head and he swooned. Every sense went black, except for a light ahead, as though the exit to a tunnel, and he heard a sighing whisper of a vaguely familiar, feminine voice too soft and distant to understand.


	4. The Bull by the Sea

It was to the feel of a sharp beak pecking the side of his head that first woke Faulklin, then the smell of dust and old stone wafted through his nose.

Soon after, feeling returned to his body, but _fuck_ , did he wish it hadn't. Every muscle, tendon, and joint ached, dully throbbing in protest as he started to drag himself up from the ground. A snort of air blasted into his ear and he absently reached up to touch a bulky, furred head, grasping at the rough fabric of a halter.

As if to aid him in rising, Rebel lifted his head after he grabbed onto the halter, hoisting him up a little more quickly than he was already doing himself. Khu squawked in surprise and hopped a few paces away from where he'd been curiously pecking at the unconscious teen, watching the boy and horse out of one upturned eye. Faulklin glanced up and around, only now realizing where they were as he spied the alter where Komeko's body lay, and Daijoudan sitting on the steps not far off, looking at him disinterestedly.

How had they gotten back here…? And how long had they been-

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard an odd ringing noise, cracks of light forming over the surface of the nearest idol. The stone itself shone with a blinding intensity, until it was nothing but a ball of light, and then imploded onto itself, crumbling into a pile of dust.

The vaguely familiar rumble of Dormin's voice, that looming, omnipotent presence invisibly descending upon the temple, boomed down from the heavens.

 _ **"Thy next foe is…"**_ It paused, as if for dramatic effect. _**"In the seaside cave…it moves slowly. Raise thy courage to defeat it."**_

Faulklin was silent, and then cast a questioning look towards Daijoudan, who rolled his eyes.

"You passed out after defeating the Colossus." There was an impossible-to-read look in his silver eyes. Something he couldn't identify. It wasn't worry, he knew that much, but something else. Something grim. Whatever it was though, he hardly cared. "After you killed it, something black came out, and disappeared inside _you_. For a moment, I thought whatever it was killed you too, but as it turns out, your dumb ass was still breathing."

Faulklin paused a moment to think back, and he _did_ recall something, distantly, and placed a hand over his torso. Strange, shadow-like tendrils that had appeared and came at him, but not much after that, except the feeling of something... _entering_. He wasn't quite sure how to put it. It wasn't like a physical sort of feeling of something piercing flesh, but something else he couldn't quite explain. All he knew was it had felt like something that wasn't there before had seated itself _inside_ him, but it was so small and weak, he couldn't sense it anymore.

Anyway, it didn't matter.

He turned and mounted Rebel's saddle, Daijoudan's eyes still on him.

"Not even going to say anything?"

"What is there to say?"

"You're going after the next one?"

"What the Hell do _you_ think, smart one?" Faulklin retorted, glaring. "Of course I'm fucking going after the next one. I told you what I intend to do."

"And you think you're in any condition to do it?"

"Yes."

"More like _no_." How could the idiot think he was actually fit to take on a second one so soon? The last one had been killed not even a full hour ago, yet he wanted to go ahead and hunt down another, without even giving himself the time to properly rest first. Being involuntarily knocked out for all of what might have been fifteen minutes didn't count.

"No one asked for your opinion."

"I'm an Emperor. I don't _ask_ for anything. Now sit your ass down and take a break."

"Go govern someone who wants it. I'm not one of your kiss-ass subjects and there's nothing in this world that obligates me to follow _your_ orders," Faulklin shot back bitingly, nudging Rebel in the ribs and riding outside.

He couldn't _just_ _take a break_. Every moment he wasted was one more moment that the Elder and his elites might be drawing closer, probably ready to cut him down for committing a taboo once they reached here. He was exhausted, hurting, hungry, and a vast myriad of other things, but he didn't have the luxury of time to be any of them. He needed to get this done as soon as possible and worry about resting later. The Colossus weren't going anywhere, but that didn't mean their time wasn't finite.

He had already faced one Colossus and not only _survived_ but killed it. The first time, he had basically just bumbled his way through it, having not the slightest clue what he was doing. This time he had a better idea, so he would be more prepared.

He raised his sword to the light, but didn't immediately see it point in any direction. Small, faint beams shone off in every direction, so he turned and angled it, until they formed a point all heading to the same end. Daijoudan came behind him on his mount, but if he had any intention of stopping the teen, Faulklin had no intention of letting him. He commanded Rebel into a run, and sped off towards the next one he would have to fight.

He circled around the base of Dormin's shrine, northbound. Ahead were a trio of stone columns that had once held up two archways, long crumbled by time, still showing signs of what they once were by parts that branched out near the top. Between two of the columns straight ahead led to a long, naturally-weathered bridge of stone, going north. A second, alternate bridge near it between the other two pillars headed west. Faulklin took the one straight ahead.

Beneath stretched an expanse of water tinged with the smell of salt, the sound of water foaming and growling against the cliffs of the gorge, and across a broad beach of low, white sand cast in darkness where the sun didn't fully reach. Across the open expanse of the drop, on the other side of the bridge above, stretched desert sands and grass, and hills of stone broken only by the entrance to a ravine.

A path ahead connecting to the other end of the bridge sloped steadily down toward the beach, and beneath that sloping path, Faulklin spied what appeared might be a cave, with large stone blocks sitting at the entrance, as if it may have caved in. He guessed that that was where the second Colossus probably resided, going by Dormin's earlier words, and sure enough, the light of the sword glinted straight for it like a compass.

As he reached the end of the bridge, which forked further ahead or downward at the slope, a rumble made the horses falter and whicker nervously, dancing in a circle uncertainly at the fork.

 _At least I know we're close,_ the youth thought to himself, nudging Rebel further.

With only another moment of hesitation, the horse followed his command and galloped down the sloped path that wound about the shadow of the cliff, more weathered carvings along the wall to his left, with the beach and the drop of the cliff to his right. Some of the legs of the great bridge they had crossed to reach Dormin's shrine for the first time found their foundation here, solidly planted in the soil and water, their bases large enough to have matched the minotaur in sheer size.

The path let out onto the expanse of pale sand, but there were no further noises to suggest the presence of a Colossus yet. Only the gentle lapping of waves on the shore. That didn't mean either man had dropped his guard, however, more on alert than ever in their ride as they neared the collapsed cave entrance.

They rode around the far side of the beach, away from the entrance, and pulled the horses to a halt from a distance, watching and trying to discern what to do. Was it going to come out to fight them, or would they have to go inside to it? Licking his lips apprehensively, Faulklin waited. And waited.

Nothing was happening.

He nudged Rebel in the ribs with his heel, riding closer, all senses trained, ready to react to whatever might come his way. Once he had almost reached it, the ground rumbled, and a deafening crack of breaking stone stung his ears as the unstable wall of collapsed stone burst apart. Faulklin cursed foully and kicked his horse into action, the panicked stallion bolting without any further encouragement, just before a large chunk landed where they had been a second ago and would have otherwise been crushed.

A thunderous, bovine bellow echoed from within as an enormous form emerged, the falling boulders bouncing harmlessly off its shoulders into the sand, as though it didn't even notice them, stomping its massive legs against the ground firmly. Glowing blue eyes pierced the dust and falling debris, honing in on Faulklin and his fleeing steed immediately.

The last Colossus Faulklin fought was still clearly planted within his mind, its size having been impressive, but _this_ one was twice as tall as the last and just as long, four times the sheer mass that the last one had been. Rather than bearing the shape of a humanoid, this one had four legs, closer resembling an actual bull rather than a minotaur.

It tried to follow, but it was tediously slow in its steps, taking a great deal of effort to move its great weight. Just as Dormin had said, it was slow. That, at least, was a plus. It meant he would have time to watch and evaluate, and being where he could ride his horse would make that easier than the last time.

The mammoth beast was covered in fur in places, same as the last one. Its legs seemed to be made of stone and thick hide, lined in carved stone-like plates that he didn't think he could reach from this height, even if he vaulted off Rebel's back to grab them. Likely its weak point would be on its head again, or he was banking on as much anyway. Reaching it, however, would be the trick.

He eyed the weathered, natural bridge above that they had come across. He thought that perhaps he could leap down onto its back from above, but as large as it was, it wasn't large enough to make up the distance. The fall was too great. If it didn't outright kill him, it would leave him maimed with broken limbs and probably a few ruptured organs. He might do the same with a smaller cliff side, but that would require bringing the Colossus in close enough, and he wasn't sure that would happen. Another option would be to bring it lower, somehow, but Faulklin was a far cry from sure about how to do that.

For now, he was only circling on Rebel's back, biding his time to think. Maybe if he slashed its legs with his sword, he could make it lame. Perhaps even completely incapacitate it. The sacred sword could harm them the way arrows couldn't, after all. He wasn't sure if that would really work, but it was better than having no ideas to try at all.

He turned Rebel toward it at full gallop, drawing the blade, and slashed the side of its leg as he blazed past, but it barely even scratched the thick, stone-like hide, just as he'd feared it might. It was little more than an annoyance to it. So the only vulnerable places to pierce, as far as he could tell, were the parts covered by hair.

 _The parts I can't fucking reach_.

It wasn't as if he expected this to be _easy_. Far from it. He would have at least liked it to be _doable_ though.

He continued to ride around, Daijoudan doing similarly somewhere else on the beach where Faulklin couldn't see. The teen cast a glance over his shoulder, trying to find some way to combat the Colossus. Only a second too late did he realize as he circled around it again that he and Daijoudan were riding opposite ways, the two horses almost crashing into each other.

Daijoudan's horse recovered and dashed off. Faulklin's horse, however, didn't.

Rebel startled with a neigh and faltered, falling over in the path of the Colossus and tossing Faulklin, the kid barely managing to maneuver so he wouldn't be trapped underneath the flailing equine. Scrambling up, he tried to get his horse back on its feet quickly, the Colossus' eyes turning that same glaring red. It bunched itself up, and reared, drawing itself up to look even more ominously imposing and gargantuan than it already was. Faulklin saw a flash of the underside of its hooves, which glowed gold and green patterns.

He didn't have time to dwell on it until after Rebel found his hooves again and they tore out of range as the Colossus crashed its full weight down, rocking the beach and sending up a miasma of sand.

Then he recalled the glowing patterns on its hooves again.

"Don't tell me…" he muttered under his breath, too quietly to be heard over the din of every other noise filling the air.

How was he supposed to reach a weak point on the underside of its massive hooves without getting himself crushed? He knew he wasn't going to go sticking his arm down there, that was for _damn_ sure. Would an arrow work? Even if it would, getting a clear shot would be the trick.

He circled around again, staring intently at its feet. The beast was watching him as well, swiveling to keep him in sight and pursue, but Rebel was too fast to keep up. As they sprinted around the rear of the mammoth Colossus, he momentarily glimpsed the glyphs again, showing plainly and openly for only a second, before stomping back down again.

Maybe he could hit them after all…

Sheathing his sword, he pulled his bow out and wheeled Rebel around, swinging one leg over so that he was ready. Upon getting behind it again, he jumped down, letting Rebel keep running, and rolled as he hit the sand, bow already in one hand and arrow in the other.

Nocking the arrow back, he fired as soon as the rear hoof lifted off the ground, hitting his mark and listening in satisfaction as the beast bellowed and pitched.

As the Colossus fell to a knee, a cloud of sand was kicked up. Faulklin scrambled up and squinted against the sand in the air, idly blowing strands of brown out of his face as he sprinted for the behemoth before it could rise. He heard alarmed neighs and galloping hooves elsewhere, two different sets, but ignored them and sprinted for the partially-fallen Colossus.

He only barely managed to reach it and tightly fist a handful of fur on its knee before it rose again with a mighty groan, causing him to almost lose his grip immediately. He inhaled several long-suffering breaths of effort and scrambled to get higher, even as it shook its rear leg with a moan of pain and irritation.

He didn't stop despite the protest in his arms until he'd climbed to the very top crest of its hip, collapsing in a heap there to regain some of his energy, the smell of old stone and unknown organisms colonizing in its fur overpowering his nose.

He only managed maybe half a minute of rest before the giant tossed its body this way and that, mightily shaking itself like a 120-ton dog trying to rid itself of water, making the clinging teen flop about like a ragdoll on its hide. The only thing keeping him from falling a good hundred feet to his death was the shaky grasp he had on its shag. He was relieved when it stopped, clamoring higher towards the stony spine structure at the center of its back, bracing himself against it so he wouldn't be so easy to toss while he figured out what to do next.

"Did you actually manage to haul your scrawny ass up here?" It was Daijoudan's voice, from the other side of the protruding stone spine. He must have climbed up from the opposite leg. "Or am I going to have to clean _you_ up next along with the rest of your messes?"

Faulklin scoffed. "Sad I didn't get stepped on?"

"Maybe."

"If you're so eager to see what would become of something under this thing's hooves, why don't you climb down and find out for yourself." The intensity of the situation had done nothing to slow his usual impulse to shoot off scathing quips.

"Why do that when I can just entertain the idea of you getting smashed like a grape instead."

"Because once I throw you off to get trampled, there won't be much left to the imagination anymore anyway."

Daijoudan scoffed. "I'd say you should try finding someone your own size you could actually accomplish that with, but in your case, that'll be damn near impossible."

"Keep it up and the next colossal pain in the ass I'm going to slay is you."

Daijoudan only snorted mockingly.

Faulklin braced himself again, as the Colossus tried to shake him off but to no avail.

"Assuming we don't fall off, hopefully the rest of this one will be easy."

"Oh yeah, just a breeze," Faulklin hissed, not sharing the same sentiment.

It wasn't that, deep down, he didn't want to share the man's optimism, or as close to optimistic as Daijoudan ever got anyway. In fact, he really, _really_ wanted to. He wanted this to be easy, more than anything. The thought of facing another fourteen more of these beasts after this was beyond daunting. The fatigue that was settling in his bones after only killing one and halfway through fighting the second one almost whispered that it'd be better and so much easier to just let the damn Colossus step on him instead of continuing to fight.

But he'd known that this wouldn't be easy and he wasn't about to fool himself into thinking as much, no matter if their victory was assured from this point on or not.

Shaking these thoughts away, the beast seemed to have lost either interest or knowledge of the pair on its backside and started to walk, no longer trying to throw the two off. He heard the horses braying below and saw one of their forms galloping ahead, the beast slowly lurching after them, more intent on the targets it could see than those on its back.

Khu fluttered down to rest on the beast's stony spine just above where its tail might have been, if it had had one. Faulklin stood low with a steadying hand on its spine, rolling with the motions, and raised the blade to the light again. The sword in his hand pulsed and pointed light nearby, indicating that it sensed one of those glyphs, which appeared with an intense glow just off the end-top of its rump where a tail-bone-like structure jutted out. He moved closer and threw himself down, finding a secure hold.

With a strenuous effort, he lifted the blade above his head and sheathed the blade deep into the fur and thick hide. The Colossus gave a screech that sounded every bit the angry bull it embodied with every stab, it taking him four labored plunges of the blade before the glowing sigil disappeared. A fountain of black mist blasted into the sky from the wounds that Faulklin had delivered to the Colossus' weak point, the beast lumbering forward and shaking itself slightly.

_One down…another one to go._

Now he had to reach the monster's head, but that sounded a lot easier in theory than he figured it would be in reality.

Wanting this to be over quickly, Faulklin crawled to the center of its back and climbed its stone spine, sprinting straight down the center and fighting hard to keep his balance. He lost his footing at the shoulders and face-planted into its fur, but managed to grasp the long strands to keep from sliding. The Colossus blew out a long cry like the foghorn of a massive cargo ship, the sheer volume and bass sending vibrations through his skull.

Blowing hair out of his face in annoyance that had stuck slightly with sweat as he pushed himself up. His blue-eyed glare was fixed on the top of its head where another glyph had started to appear, his azure hue holding a dangerously irate light to it.

"You're going to fucking die…" he muttered in a low tone, a malevolence that vastly contradicted his young, lithe, baby-faced appearance. It was less of a threat and more of a promise.

Staggering to his feet, he stumbled across the top of its neck and to its head, having to crouch slightly a few times as its swaying mass almost threw him off. When he reached its head, he collapsed onto his knees and drew the blade above his head, bringing it down with a recently familiar _crack_ as it pierced deep through the skull.

The bull shrieked agony and tossed its head violently from one side to the other. It tried to buck, too big to pull off lifting itself from the ground, but attempting none the less. Faulklin flattened himself and held on tightly before stabbing it again, and again.

He heard a satisfying snapping noise as he drove it down again for a last time before the sigil disappeared, fading out of existence. He braced himself for the monster to fall, crashing heavily into the sand, but it didn't.

It thrashed its head some more, attempting to throw the boy off, but didn't show any sign of stopping yet. Faulklin stopped with a wide eye. He had done it though…stabbed through its weak point, especially the one on its head! Just like he had done with the other one! Unless…

He let out a long, weary breath as he rested his forehead on the top of the pommel and closed his eye, sword still sheathed in the Colossus' skull, looking every bit the part of a defeated, battle-weary soldier as realization dawned on him.

There was _another_ weak point somewhere that he still had to hit…

Faulklin drew in several ragged breaths, feeling drained. He wasn't even sure he had the energy to finish the beast off, but he kept telling himself he had to. He _had_ to.

_Have to. Have to. You have to finish this. Get your ass up and kill this damn thing you scrawny fucking half-pint bastard. You're not allowed to stop until you've fucking killed it. You're not allowed to let HIM down after everything he's done for you._

_Get._

_The._

_Fuck._

_Up._

Pulling the sword free, he kept a death grip on the fur of its head and raised the sword up, light glinting off of it, pointing to somewhere lower on the beast's body, some angle it couldn't directly reach.

The Colossus tossed its head up and lumbered forward, approaching one of the stone legs of the great bridge and lowering its head to ram the clinging boy into it and crush him. Faulklin cussed and stood, staggering under the sway of its motions and barely managing to dash far enough up its form to avoid being smashed and killed between it's skull and solid stone. The bridge leg audibly rattled, but still stood without much visible damage, other than some of the carved details being sheered flat.

Still not finding the other glyph, he leapt down onto one of the platform plats on its shoulder, trying to find it. He was rewarded as a glyph appeared on its flank, shining brilliantly.

_There._

Getting to his feet tremulously, he launched himself forward and grabbed onto the fur there with one hand, dangling for a moment and gritting his teeth as his shoulder gave a fierce tug, almost coming out of socket.

He ignored it and scrambled up as best he could, jabbing the blade into its side. The Colossus bellowed in anguish and shook itself to be rid of the miniscule pest.

Rivulets of sweat beaded down his effort-knitted brow and he lost his footing as he dislodged the blade, struggling just to pull himself up where he could stab it gain. It took a massive deal of effort, but he managed to sink the sword in again.

He removed the sword again, only for a gasp to leave his lips as he lost not only his footing but his grip, sliding several feet down its side and only barely managing to regain his hold on the last strands of hair on its side, flailing his legs to try and find a purchase to pull himself up.

He knew better, but his single eye darted to the ground below him. It might not have been enough of a distance to kill him instantly, but he wouldn't be getting back up with any haste. Certainly not fast enough to keep from getting crushed underfoot.

_Shit. Shit! Don't fall. Don't fall. DON'T fall. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit-_

_(Who're you kidding? Just let go and let it smash you. If it's not this one that does it, it'll be the next one. You can't finish this task, even IF you kill this one Colossus)_

_I'm going to finish this. I WILL. I'm not going to die here. I can't. Not until I've finished what I started._

_(You can't do it. What made you think someone as worthless as you could actually do anything right, much less for someone as great as that man you call "Brother"? Ha!)_

_I will. I WILL. I will, damn it!_

Faulklin managed to feebly claw his way up a few inches, closing his eye tightly and willing his strength to hold out, just until he could deliver a last blow to the damn thing, but it felt _so far_ away, and he was drained.

 _…maybe I_ should _just give in and accept that I can't do this. What asinine logic made me think I even could to begin with? Idiot. Fucking idiot. You never even had a chance. Why did you even try to begin with?_

All he'd have to do is let go and wait for the giant to step on him and that'd be it.

The brunette was snapped out of his pessimistic internal ramblings when Daijoudan grabbed his arm and pulled him partway up, his single eye snapping with a more familiar fire through his haze of exhaustion. The older male was glaring down at him disapprovingly, and Faulklin returned it equally.

"I told you not to make promises you can't keep!"

"I can... keep it..." Faulklin ground out exhaustedly. "And I don't need your help!"

Even as the words left his lips, he clambered up the giant's side, unadmittedly helped by Daijoudan's 'interference' as he tried to regain himself enough to deliver the last blow that'd kill the Bull. Or at least that was his hope. He'd barely have the strength for one more stab, let alone more than that.

"Then fucking finish it, half-ass!"

He lifted the blade, and with a last strenuous effort, plunged it into the center of the weak point on the Colossus' side. Faulklin barely kept a hold as the beast bellowed and swayed, collapsing onto its opposite side and kicking up a cloud of dust as it hit the sands hard and fell completely still, the light of its eyes faded to pits of deep black. Tendrils of inky shadow accompanied this one's death as well, squirming up to the sky like grasping fingers.

Faulklin gasped a few ragged breaths and just lay there, not wanting to move as the fur crumbled and the corpse began to solidify into all stone, becoming another regular mound in the land, though still retaining identifiable features. The only sound in the settling silence was the youth trying to catch his breath and rest, feeling as though he might just pass out where he lay.

"You're fucking insane."

Faulklin snorted. "You knew that, and still tagged along anyway. What does that make you, exactly?"

"A babysitter cursed with the worst brat on the planet and too many regrets for dealing with him."

"I'm not a child."

"Could've fooled me, half-pint."

"Cram your hole," Faulklin rebuked. "With an entire fucking Colossus."

The hairs on Faulklin's head prickled uneasily and he glanced up, watching the swirling tendrils whirl about in the air. Pushing himself up to his knees and trying to stand, he dislodged his sword and took a swing at them as they neared, but the blade didn't even touch them, passing through harmlessly as though they were phantoms. Like before, they pierced into his gut and disappeared and his consciousness was gone, collapsing onto the dead Colossus' side again as a black aura crept over its form.


	5. Knight of the Round

Faulklin never thought he would hate waking up _this_ much.

Waking up was usually a relief.

Sleeping? The necessary evil.

Awake, he could keep everything that haunted him in check, at least to prying eyes, stuffing all of it somewhere into a black hole in the back of his mind and simply not think about it, out of both is reach and everyone else's. Sleep was where that black hole spit everything back up again and haunted him without mercy, plaguing him until either someone woke him, usually his older brother, or he eventually roused by himself, curled up in such a tight, tense ball from the nightmares that it ached to move.

Aching first thing in the morning was something he was used to, but he never hurt _this_ badly. Not to the point where even just _breathing_ almost made him whimper. Only almost, because he was used to suppressing any signs of pain from those who might like to exploit it.

Gritting his teeth to remain silent, he slid his arms under him and pushed himself up, cold radiating from the dusty stone beneath him. He was quickly aware of where he was once again as he glanced up. Back inside Dormin's shrine.

Daijoudan was sitting on the steps to the alter again, one elbow propped on a knee to support his head, eyes closed. Asleep, maybe? Two white doves that almost seemed to glow lingered around him on the steps.

Faulklin glanced around, and saw that the second stone idle had crumbled already like the first. That was when he felt the presence of Dormin in the air again, the sky rumbling with many omnipotent voices. Faulklin glanced up through the cylindrical hole in the ceiling where light pooled down from.

_**"Thy next foe is...** _ _**A giant canopy soars to the heavens... The anger of the sleeping giant shatters the** **earth."** _

There were eyes on him. He felt it well before he turned his head towards Daijoudan.

"Go rushing off and I'll make whatever aches you're feeling twice as bad." Was that tiredness in his voice? Maybe even pain, albeit well-veiled.

Ha! Served the royal stiff right.

"If you want to get gutted that badly, just come out and say it. I'll happily oblige," Faulklin quipped in return. He did so enjoy watching a vein pop out along Daijoudan's face when he got angry. "Or you could just save me the trouble and go jump off a bridge instead. We have one just over yonder that'd be perfect for you." He thumbed over his shoulder at the spiral pathway where they'd first come in from.

"Keep telling yourself that. You're the only suicidal ignoramus that would even come up with that idea."

"Yeah, I guess it _would_ be kind of hard to think of it when you're too distracted by the wind whistling through that empty passageway you call a skull, wouldn't it?" He swung up onto Rebel's saddle.

"Better empty than full of shit." Daijoudan stood, the doves startling and taking flight, disappearing outside.

"Someone like you that's so tight-assed it's a miracle you don't crap diamonds wouldn't know 'full of shit' if you were drowning in an ocean of it." Faulklin nudged Rebel into a trot, heading outside and lifting his blade to the light, faint beams dancing off it in all directions. Once again, when he turned to find where it would point, it was somewhere behind Dormin's shrine, in the same general direction as the 2nd Colossus had been.

He took off on Rebel as Daijoudan started to catch up on his mare, heading the same way. They crossed the natural bridge over the small sea and sands below, but instead of heading down the slope to the right, this time they continued straight, onto the other side of the canyon where stone and grass became orange sand. As they cleared the small hill of stone that partially obscured their view to the left, Faulklin steered his horse around it, following the light towards the entrance to a ravine.

Just before it, he pulled Rebel to a stop, near a small pool of water shadowed by medium-sized boulders and a few sapling trees. Hopping off Rebel's back, he kneeled down and cupped water in his hands, taking a few drinks, while his horse drank as well. Haste or otherwise, he still knew better than to go on without stopping to rehydrate whenever fresh drinking water became available, especially on the way to a fight that was going to quickly tax his energy.

When he was done, he hopped back onto the stallion and continued into the shadow of the rising stone walls. Hooves clacked against stone, the sound bouncing around them. Sitting across the top of the ravine not far in was a long, grey pillar of stone, spotted in rust-like orange, that split down its center to branch out. Not long beyond that, a hint of light broke through the shadow of the cliffs, highlighting the tops of them.

A few small trees found purchase at the very edge of a lake amongst moist, fallen leaves. Cool fog wafted by in a curtain that wasn't quite enough to hide the rising stone in the center of the lake, which mushroomed out at the top. As he rode along the bank, surveying the scene from afar, he noticed a sloping path that coiled around the outer edge toward the top.

This must be the 'canopy' Dormin mentioned.

Only one problem: the start of the path was submerged under several feet of water. And several yards away from shore.

Faulklin scowled silently as the two horses came to stop in the shallows, staring across the water. And he could feel those damn eyes on him again.

"Something wrong?"

"No."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were getting cold feet."

Faulklin scoffed. "Hardly." He still didn't move from the saddle.

"Then why wait all of a sudden?"

"I'm just thinking ahead of time so I'm prepared, that's all." It was somewhat of a bluff.

A huff that might have been laughter. "You? Stop to think?"

Faulklin gave him a glare. "How'd you like to be drown in one foot of water?"

"First you'd have to get off your damn horse."

Damn that guy. Did he know...?

Faulklin scoffed and swung down, the cold of the water through his clothes immediately sending a shiver up his spine. At the very least, he had his horse between himself and Daijoudan as he took a steadying breath, wading forward.

He could do this. It wasn't that far. Maybe just pushing off would make up the difference without any trouble.

Taking a breath, he dunked under the water and pushed off the steps, gliding through the water. And then he stopped going forward. And he floundered.

He tried to keep calm, struggling to surface again and find something underfoot, but all he got was more water, and more water beneath that, grasping for something - _anything_ \- to pull himself out, whether it be the shore or the stone pathway up the rock canopy, but he couldn't seem to remember which way he was going, losing air and starting to take on water.

A hard tug on the back of his shirt pulled him along, and just when he couldn't hold his breath anymore, he surfaced, sucking in a hard gasp and sputtering as he was hauled onto tilted stone.

"Fucking moron. If you can't swim, then say something about it, don't just try anyway!"

Was that asshole _really_ going to patronize him when he almost drown? Oh, but of course. That was exactly why he was an asshole.

"I don't want or need your damn help!"

Daijoudan rolled his eyes, snatching Faulklin by the shirt collar and shoving, holding him back out over the water. "Fine then, since you don't need my help, how about I just throw you back out there so you can do it yourself?" He smirked at the wide-eyed glare Faulklin gave him, hands wrapped around his wrist in a death grip.

"Fuck you!"

That was as much of an admission as the man figured he was going to get out of the brat. He threw him back onto stone and ignored the dirty over-the-shoulder glare that the kid gave him.

Faulklin shook his dripping hair out and stood, somewhat unsteady, but pushed forward without a word towards the top of the path. It was almost a miracle the kid didn't try to run him through with the sword he carried, even if he _would_ fail, because Daijoudan had no reservations about making his threat to throw the little shit back into the water to drown a reality if he _did_ attempt it.

As they crested the top of the path, Faulklin was regaining some of his confidence, walking a bit more strongly. They found their way out of the shadows cast by the cliffs, warm sun on their backs, but then they came across another barrier. The path didn't directly connect to the canopy, or if it had, those segments had long ago crumbled away. They were going to have to jump for the ledge.

Faulklin eyed the distance and drop in calculation, readying himself to leap.

"Try not to miss!" the brunette-blond snarked.

Daijoudan only scoffed aloud, crossing his arms. "It's not me you have to worry about missing."

"Worry about your own imcompetant ass before it gets shoved back under the water and drowned on the lake bottom where it belongs," he hissed with clear intent that he'd be the one to carry it out himself if it came to that.

"Except that, unlike another dumbass I know, I can actually swim if I hit the water."

Faulklin silently flipped him off before sprinting forward and leaping across, managing to only barely catch the ledge with his hands and haul himself up. Daijoudan soon followed, only to cuss profoundly as Faulklin stomped one of his hands, almost making him fall as he was left only one to hold on with. The kid stuck his tongue out cheekily.

"Threaten me like that again and I'll crush your other hand next."

The pure _audacity_ of that little fucker!

Faulklin danced back out of reach as Daijoudan tried to swing upward and grab the boy's leg with his free hand, looking down smugly.

"The Colossi are going to be the _least_ of your worries once I get up there!"

Faulklin only rolled his eye and smirked, traipsing away to climb up the rest of the way to the top of the circular canopy. "Promises~, Promises~"

He turned his attention back to his task, single eye wandering to a form crumbled in the center of the canopy, which was more like a large, wall-less arena. He could tell immediately by the view of blue-grey fur and ruin-like structures that the mass was a Colossus, but it didn't appear to have noticed him yet. Maybe he could finish this before it even had a chance to rise.

He drew his blade and started to run forward, but a echoing, long drawn-out groan stopped him as the beast began to stir and move, the ground beneath Faulklin's feet rumbling with its vocalization.

The first thing to come up was a long arm, clutching a stone rod that was just as long as the last Colossus' body had been, before one arm pushed it to sit up. Small bits of rock rained down off its humanoid form, then it pushed itself to its feet, which were large, round orbs beneath stilts of stone armor. The impression he got was of a knight, clad in armor and wielding a sword.

Faulklin couldn't help but swallow nervously as he watched the beast ascend its full height, putting that of the previous two utterly to shame.

Was _every_ Colossus going to be that much larger than the last?! It seemed as though each one doubled in size from the one before it. It wasn't as wide, but it had to be at least twice as tall. He eyed the Colossus warily, watching the long weapon held in hand, calculating.

The Colossus slowly lumbered closer, though each massive step still carried it a great distance. When it deemed it had come close enough, it planted one leg back, arching the weapon and bringing it swinging clear over its head, rapidly bringing it down towards the short teen.

 _That thing has one Hell of a reach with that weapon. This is going to be a lot more dangerous than the last two_.

He turned and ran to the side as the Colossus' weapon came crashing down, vaulting forward and rolling across the ground. The impact into packed soil kicked up a cloud and sent Faulklin bouncing off his feet, even from a distance. The pure shockwave rattled his bones and left him breathless, but it seemed he had a moment to recover as the Colossus struggled to pull its weapon from the pit of soil it had created with its swing.

Running would be a useless endeavor, it would recover too quickly for him to do anything other than dodge again, so he crouched where he was and eyed it appraisingly, trying to scope out a way to climb up, eye tracing over every inch of the titan. There was no decent purchase on the structure of its legs. Not that he could scale without getting knocked off anyway. It's arms were too high to reach, unless he could get it to lower itself slightly, but why would it ever do that?

He watched the Colossus finally free its 'sword' from where it was imbedded several feet into the dirt, leaving a crater behind. _Six feet under_ would be quite the literal term if he didn't dodge fast enough. Perhaps…if he timed it right, he could run right up its weapon before it had the chance to knock him off, and grab onto the fur of its arm.

He still didn't know where it's weak points were, however, and after his last encounter, he wasn't going to risk attacking it without knowing how much work was involved as well. If he missed so much as _one_ weak-point, the Colossus wouldn't fall, and he only had so much energy to fight with. He had to be more careful about how he approached his fights from now on.

It's swing came for him again, and he bolted, leaping away from the impact site. The ground bounced him up again as he was summersaulting, traveling through his shoulders, but he managed to get back to his feet quickly and keep running some ways.

Daijoudan was soon to join him. Either he hadn't fallen off the ledge - one could dream, right? - or he was a really fast swimmer with infinite patience to even bother coming back and climbed back up again. Since Daijoudan was _not_ a person of infinite patience for dealing with annoying shit, Faulklin guessed it was the former.

"So do you actually have a fucking plan this time?"

"I'm working on it," Faulklin snapped, skidding to a stop and raising his sword to the light, just as the giant began to pull its weapon loose, shaking like a wet dog, another cascade of loose stone crumbling from its armor. The light pointed towards the Colossus' stomach first.

 _One_.

The next, which was obvious, was its head.

 _Two_.

Faulklin swiveled the blade to see if another might appear, which he had little doubt. The light pointed somewhere else, but didn't show a glyph, so Faulklin was left to guess it was at an angle which he couldn't see.

 _Three_.

The possibility of there being more didn't escape his attention, but they'd run out of time to sit and ponder, the Colossus turning to take another swing, and they ran again, scattering to either side. The pounding of the weapon into the soil was deafening, almost making his ears pop.

"Hey," Faulklin barked. If the idiot was going to keep following him, he might as well make the silver-haired jerk useful. "There's another weak point, but I can't see it from this side. Distract it for me." He had an idea of where it was, but he needed to be sure.

Daijoudan snorted disbelief. He hadn't forgotten that damn punk stomping his hand and trying to knock him into the water, never mind all the other ways the brunette caused him strife.

"I should just trip you and let it smash your ass down like a nail."

"Try it and I'll have your leg like a steel trap. Drag you down with me into the grave. Won't be a _pretty-boy_ anymore after that." Daijoudan had no doubts the scrawny psychopath _would_ , too. "If you're not going to make yourself useful, then get the Hell out. I don't need dead weight to carry around."

"As if you could carry much of anything on those toothpicks you call limbs, pipsqueak."

"I can carry my own weight, at least!" the youth snapped, leaping to his feet to dodge another incoming swing from the Colossus, its weapon's collision with the earth knocking the breath out of him even from a distance.

He panted and his single eye traveled up the length of its 'sword' trapped in the soil, an idea forming. Recovering slightly, he rolled off the uppermost ledge of the circle and onto the one beneath that, tucking himself into the shadow of the uppermost levels as he tried to think. If he could run up it on one of it's swings, then just maybe...

But that was no good. A large ring of stone encased its arm, blocking his path. He'd only be able to reach its wrist, and after that, it would all be in vain unless he could get past it, and holding onto rock that was _moving_ was an entirely different story from climbing up a solid, still cliff. Nearly impossible. Even _if_ the armor appeared as if crumbling and ready to fall off...

That gave him another idea. Maybe the armor could be broken with the right amount of force. The only problem was, how were they going to do that? The soil in the arena wasn't going to cut it, it was too soft. His eye traveled further, trying to figure out what to do next. Maybe the outer stone sides of the platform? Those might do it, but it was a gamble. He licked his lips in thought and poked his head back up, seeing the giant walking after Daijoudan as the man ran, distracting it.

Faulklin noticed an unnatural, light-gray circle in the center of the plateau, the Colossus' feet stomping down on it, but not even making a dent like it did the rest of the arena.

That was when it clicked. It looked to be stone, hopefully solid. If he could get it to strike down full-force on that circle, then just maybe...

He climbed out of hiding and sprinted for the circle, flinging himself forward and stopping on it. Raising his sword, he found the last glyph on the back of its arm, and raised his fingers to his lips, whistling shrilly.

The Colossus halted its chase of Daijoudan and turned to stare with blue eyes obscured by distance. The titan rumbled and began to turn arduously, planting a leg back and going to swing.

 _At least these damn things aren't terribly bright,_ Faulklin thought with a triumphant grin beginning to form. He held his ground as long as his nerves would allow, before turning and sprinting, the shadow of the weapon falling over him. He vaulted forward and heard a deafening boom of stone-on-stone, his entire body rattling with the shock of the hit.

Splitting loudly, part of the ring that encased the Colossus' arm began to fracture and fall away, until a large chunk separated and careened to the earth. Faulklin's victorious grin fully blossomed and he leapt to his feet. Now he'd just have to find a way up, but he already knew how he was going to do that. All that was left was to set the stage and get the behemoth to take another swing at him.

Dazed, the Colossus shook itself angrily and took a few more steps forward, raising its weapon again to strike. Faulklin was more prepared this time and figured he had gotten fairly good at the timing now, so he waited until just the right moment to move, the weapon lodging in the earth again. Not wasting even a second, Faulklin whirled and sprinted up the path of the stone 'sword', reaching its wrist just as it pulled free once more.

Feeling more confident by the second, he grasped a fistful of fur and began his climb, knowing what he had to do fairly well at this point.

The first part of the climb was easy, reaching what remained of the Colossus' arm armor and taking a moment to collect himself. He was thinking more strategically now, trying to figure out what weak point to attack first. The one on the stomach as the nearest, but also the one closest to the ground. The first glyph would be easiest, but as the fight dragged on, he'd lose energy and strength. Around the Colossus' hips was a platform he could rest on when not holding onto its fur and trying to strike its weak point, so he decided he would go for that one last, and the highest point, it's head, first.

"Don't you dare fucking fall from up there!" Daijoudan called, drawing the Colossus' partial attention as Faulklin scaled up the back of its right arm.

"No shit, _Geniass_ , _"_ Faulkin rebuked, managing to reach the Knight's shoulder. The Colossus paused and rolled its shoulders, but it did little to throw the brunette off. Daijoudan whistled to gain its attention, and it began to walk after him.

Faulklin's eye scoured the space atop the monster that he would have to work with. One of the glyphs was on the top of its head, but it would be easy for the Colossus to flick him off into a deadly drop if he wasn't careful. If he lost strength or needed a break, though, it should be easy enough to jump onto the back of its neck and take a quick breather, if he really had to. He planned to use that to his full advantage.

He scaled up to the base of its neck, its rolling pitch making him sway unsteadily, even as he kneeled. He caught his breath, then made the rest of the way to the Colossus' head, driving his blade into its skull.

The Colossus stopped with a groan of pain and pitched forward, hanging its head. Faulklin knew he shouldn't look, but his eye wandered down, and his stomach fell into his hanging feet as he saw how high up he was suspended. The giant flicked its head side to side, but it wasn't enough to dislodge him.

After what seemed like an eternity, it flipped its head back, and Faulklin with it, though he still had a hold of his sword and the fur on the top of the Colossus head. He adjusted his grip on the Colossus' shag, drew his sword out, and plunged it into the same wound again, a shattering _CRACK_ resonating in his ears.

Before the Colossus could toss him forward again, he dislodged his blade and let go as it threw its head back first, hitting its shoulders and rolling. He cursed and scrambled for a grip, catching a piece of armor and hauled himself back up before he could fall to his death.

_Too close._

Scaling back up, he leapt onto its head is it swung back up to full height, driving his blade inward and feeling the beast twitch painfully under him with a guttural growl. He drove the blade in again, a fourth and fifth time. It flicked its head forward again so that Faulklin was dangling, starting to tire. One of the Colossus' hands came up to swat him off, almost succeeding. Using it to his full advantage, he braced his feet against its hand, drawing the blade out, and drove it in a sixth time down the center, the glyph finally disappearing.

With a violent shudder, the Colossus flipped its head up again, tossing Faulklin into the air and making him fly for a few panicking seconds. He landed back down hard onto its shoulders, knocking the wind out of his lungs. He lay dazed for a moment as he tried to regain himself, his task not yet through.

He had to finish off the last two glyphs, _then_ he could worry about resting somewhat. At least until it was time to go after the fourth Colossus.

The Colossus shook itself violently, throwing its shoulders forward and back, once again trying to throw the boy off like water on a dog, making him flip over a few times with his fingers still tangled in its musty, matted fur.

Crawling across its shoulders, he dropped down several feet, gripping its fur as he found the glyph on the back of his arm and driving his blade into it, stopping his descent at the same time that he attacked it. Two birds, one stone.

The Colossus groaned its displeasure and jerked its arm back, but Faulklin held firm. It took four good stabs and almost falling as his arms and legs tired before this glyph vanished, and with the last of what he had left to hold on, he angled himself to the side and leapt for the ledge of the structure around the Colossus' waist, heaving himself up it and laying flat to regain some of his energy.

Debris from the armor pieces above rained down and belted him, small stones clattering over the edge of the structure to the ground below, which was, thankfully, a lot closer than it had been when Faulklin had been dangling from its head. It was still a drop that could kill, _definitely_ a drop that would maim, but a lot less worrisome than earlier.

Seeming to have thought it had shaken him off, the Colossus continued to pursue Daijoudan now, arching its body back and swinging for him. The man managed to dodge the blows relatively well, not showing any signs of slowing, but Faulklin didn't care to watch for more than a few seconds. As entertaining as it would be to watch the man get pounded into the dirt like some twisted real-life whack-a-mole.

Drawing in several breaths, fouled by the proximity to the Colossus' reeking fur, he stood and made his way to the front of the Colossus and found the glyph on its stomach. Clutching his sword with both hands, he drove it into the last of the weak points, the entire Colossus arching with a howl of pain and staggering. The glyph still didn't disappear, but he hadn't expected it to with only one hit. He twisted harshly as he pulled the blade out and plunged it into the Colossus again, ducking as it buckled forward and shook.

One mighty hand swooped in and tried to crush him, but he dislodged his blade and circled around the platform to its back, crouching there in safety as the Colossus tried to recover, standing mightily once more.

Faulklin took that moment to circle back to the front and stab into it, satisfied with the violent spasm that traveled up its form, signaling that it was just about finished. More chips of rock rained down, dusting his hair in fragments, but he ignored them, bringing the blade in once more, twice more, and then the glyph vanished.

The Colossus staggered, throwing its head back, and then its form arched, and it began to fall.

Faulklin cursed as it fell forward, the ground rushing up. He scrambled toward its side rather than the front and flung himself forward as the ground became that much closer, tumbling through the air ungracefully and shutting his eyes, knowing that even if the fall wouldn't kill him, it was going to hurt. A lot.

Earth wasn't what he hit, colliding with flesh that bowled over and rolled, landing in a tangled heap of limps, adrenaline, panting, and short tempers.

"I told you to stop fucking trying to 'help' me," Faulklin spat, rolling onto his back and closing his single eye as he heard the last of collapse from the massive Colossus hitting the platform squarely.

" _Tch._ You're fucking welcome," Daijoudan hissed back. Honestly, how did this brat get off with being so damn unappreciative of even the smallest things? The man did not envy Mamoru's three years spent raising the kid at all.

Neither had the energy to continue quibbling and fell silent, simply focusing on trying to catch their breath. Daijoudan saw a flash of those same black tendrils that had appeared after the last few fights from within the Colossi, and didn't have to even look this time to know what had happened as he heard Faulklin gasp next to him and his breathing quiet to a shallow rhythm.


	6. The Grand Scheme of it All

Faulklin groaned breathlessly as he stirred. If there had been any parts of his body that he hadn't been aware of existing before, he knew they were there now, agony racking every nerve and strained breath. It had been _years_ since he'd hurt to this level. Fatigue tugged at every one of his muscles and his mind, threatening to tug him back down into the embrace of unconsciousness.

 _Maybe I could just lie here and kill over_ , he mused silently, entertaining the idea for all of a few minutes before shoving it violently aside and starting to move experimentally.

He started only with one arm, grunting as the very ligaments in the limb protested, then found ground with the opposite hand, and started to push himself up. It took far more effort than should have been necessary just to find his knees, drawing in several hard breaths, which his ribs protested profusely.

"You'll stay down if you know what's good for you."

Faulklin glared exhaustedly through blond bangs, less than appreciative of the comment.

"And you'll zip your lips if you want to keep them," Faulklin returned, needing a moment to gather his energy to stand. He swayed, but managed to stay on his feet. He sucked in a few sharp gasps and turned his gaze skyward through the ceiling's opening. "Dormin! Give me the next task!" He could still feel Daijoudan's eyes boring into him like hot coals, but he didn't care.

The sky rung in announcement of the beings' presence, before the familiar voice boomed down, **_"Thy next foe is... In the land of the vast green fields... Rows of guiding graves... It is giant indeed but fearful, it is not."_**

And then it was gone again.

Faulklin grimaced and turned for his horse with an unsteady limp, tracing a hand up to his shoulder as it panged. He must have strained the socket in his fights with the Colossi, but he wasn't one to dwell on every little injury. It wasn't as if he hadn't had plenty enough throughout his life, many of them far worse than this. He was aware of being watched and quickly dropped his hand back to his side.

"Sit."

"No." Faulklin didn't even humor Daijoudan with a glance, checking Rebel's tack over and making sure it was snug.

"I'm not fucking around," Daijoudan spat, directing with his eyes. " _Sit. Down._ "

"Make me," the teen spat belligerently, eye focused on his task.

"This isn't a game."

Faulklin scoffed. "I never said it was, did I?"

"But you act like it."

"I don't."

"Yes, you do," Daijoudan stated flatly. After a moment of silence, he added, "Is Komeko's game a life to you too?" He noticed Faulklin almost flinch. Almost, but not quite.

"I don't care. Don't mistake my reasons for being here as being the same as yours. Her life doesn't mean anything to me." The words were almost impossibly soft and subdued as he muttered them, yet every syllable sounded entirely sincere. They came more strongly as he continued, no longer reluctant. "And anyway, if the Colossi don't kill me, the Elder and his warriors _will_ once they get here, and with nothing to show for it if I can't finish this before they have the chance to stop me."

The thought of death wasn't unappealing to him, especially not if he, by some miracle, managed to accomplish his task, but that didn't mean he _wanted_ to go charging in to fight more of those titanic monstrosities. He'd like nothing more than to turn around, go home, and just sleep it all away like a bad dream, but he was determined to see his self-appointed mission through whatever the cost.

"It won't matter if you drop dead in the attempt anyway. Whether the Elder, a Colossus, or exhaustion kills you, it's all the same."

"Nobody asked you."

Was that really the best comeback the brat had? No scalding profanity? No threats of bodily harm and dismemberment? If he didn't even have the energy for that, what made him think he had the energy to fight another Colossus?

"You're not going running off to fight another one."

Faulklin finally looked up, glaring personal challenge. "Just try and stop me."

Apparently the man was prepared to do just that, because he stood and advanced forward in warning with a glare of searing intensity.

Faulklin's subconscious screamed at him to back off and go the other way, the conditioning he'd developed as a child trying to kick in and tell him to retreat, but there was no way in Hell he was backing down for this over-authoritative prick, stubbornly glaring up at him through messy brown bangs. Rebel sidled uneasily, sensing the impending fight.

Faulklin's hand twitched for his sword, the two staring each other down, watching the tension in each other's bodies for when they would move, and for who would do so first. Faulklin's hand shot to the handle of his weapon and Daijoudan shot forward, closing the distance in a blinding second and punching the shorter male hard in the gut, while Faulklin's blade was still only half-drawn.

The boy gasped out in anguish and crumpled, hitting the ground solidly as he fell, out like a light even before that.

Daijoudan heard an enraged bray and quickly backed off as Faulklin's horse galloped in with teeth bared and ears flat, coming to stop over his rider protectively and just _daring_ Daijoudan to come anywhere close. He had no intention of doing so, and merely huffed, turning away to sit on the stairs again.

"Idiot. You're in no condition to go charging off so soon if that's all it took to drop you." Faulklin wasn't the best fighter, especially in close combat, but he was as skilled as any person realistically could be when it came to dodging.

It wasn't only his slight size. Reacting to quick movement and compensating to avoid it was as second-nature to him as it was natural for water to fit a mold. Hitting him solidly was like trying to grab onto a greased pig that was running full-tilt. Daijoudan knew that well from many, _many_ sparring sessions. The snappy youth would never have let the man get him that easily were he actually well enough to move.

Sighing, he folded his legs and got comfortable, needing to relax and meditate.

He was rue to admit it, but health wasn't the only reason he wasn't letting Faulklin go charging off. He was hurting as well, which was saying a lot considering that, Emperor or no, he was quite active when it came to combat and travel. The Sanryuu royal family were not ones who simply sat on the sidelines when conflict arose and let their subjects handle it all while they cozied themselves away behind the safety of city walls. Daijoudan had seen many battles throughout his lifetime, some of them as Prince but mostly after becoming Emperor when his father died during the war some years past. It was just that usually those battles entailed fighting other people, not giants of myth and legend.

For him to be aching as much as he was though, he was sure it had to be far worse for Faulklin, since he had personally done a lot more fighting and climbing of the Colossi than Daijoudan had, since it was a task he had agreed to accomplish.

Daijoudan would hazard a guess that the kid had pulled at least one muscle somewhere. He didn't see how the kid couldn't have. He might even have cracked bones or damaged tendons. He needed to let them rest and heal, at least somewhat, when he was getting to the point that he was physically having trouble standing. Otherwise whatever damage his muscles were taking on would only become that much worse. If they became bad enough, they could even become a disability, if not get the little retard killed. Not only would their progress so far be entirely in vain, but they would walk away both empty-handed _and_ having lost more than they ever gained out of it.

Besides, he needed some time to sort through his own thoughts, without having it occupied by a fight with beings no human should rightfully have to fight. Not with even one of those beasts. Certainly as Hell not sixteen of them.

So far they'd taken down three, but they wouldn't last if they kept going at the same pace, even if Faulklin refused to admit it. The human body wasn't meant to withstand that much strain over such a short burst of time. _Something_ would eventually have to break, and it would be sooner rather than later.

He breathed in slowly, then out; in, then out. There was a soft, tantalizing whisper in his head, but he didn't humor it, instead detaching away from it, but not ignoring its existence either. There was a second whispering in some other part of his mind, and he instead chose to focus on that one, yet remain between them, choosing neither side to favor following. One side was shadow, the other light, and between them a razor's edge of silver that he mentally balanced on perfectly, like a narrow path with steep edges that would cut if he stepped the wrong way.

_Breathe in. Breathe out._

Something about this entire situation involving Dormin and the Colossus didn't sit right with him. Dormin was not a god, he knew that much, but he was something greater than any mere mortal or a common spirit. Something a person didn't let themselves get carelessly strung along by without thinking, the way the scrawny idiot was doing.

A deep breath in. A long breath out.

Dormin wanted something. He certainly hadn't agreed to Faulklin's proposal _'out of the goodness of his heart'_.

There was an ulterior motive. There was _always_ an ulterior motive. Even with gods, there was a motive behind what they did that was never entirely selfless. When there wasn't, all they did was sit, and watch, and wait for the right time to get involved. Between gods and demons, the motives and end goal was different, but always still there.

So what motive could Dormin have to strike such a deal? Especially one that broke the laws of mortality to reverse death. That wasn't something that he imagined a god would grant, no matter what sort of pity they felt for the one who suffered the loss. Death was part of life. That was the natural order of things. Coping was part of the test of living. Pain brought the opportunity for growth and change.

Breathe in. And out.

Something about the Colossus had been bothering him as well. Most creatures had vulnerable places that led to death, but they were vulnerable for a reason. The body needed its organs to function. Places like the neck carried blood to those organs to make them work. Places like the head or skull were fragile because of the brain, or places like the chest because of lungs and heart. A blow to the head of almost all creatures, much less a stab with a sword, was usually lethal. Of course, none of these weak points had beacons that silently screamed _'Hit me HERE'_.

In. And out.

What was the purpose for the existence behind the Colossi? Why did Dormin want them destroyed? Why did the Colossus have such markings to indicate their weak points, showing Faulklin _right_ where to strike? And what was the significance behind those shadows that came out of the beasts after they were slain, and why did they disappear into Faulklin?

 _In._ A pause. _Out._

The Colossus were not regular forms of life, if they were living things at all. Not in the way that most creatures existed, anyway. Part of their bodies were of obvious human construction. Their heads were the most obvious, carved stone with lights for eyes, imbedded into fleshy stone and matted shag fur. The first Colossus had had shelves on its back and stone plates around its leg, but it wasn't something clever enough to have fashioned such things to itself, from what he had seen. Even if the Colossi were smart enough to do so, the second one had no such limbs do the same, having been very much animal with flat hooves. And the third Colossus, despite having hands, didn't have ones with enough dexterity.

_In. Out._

What were the Colossus? Not organic life forms. Were he to guess at all, he'd say they were more like dolls. Vessels.

 _Vessels for_ what _, though?_ That was an obvious one. Those black tendrils that had snaked out of them after death, and disappeared inside Faulklin. The question was, what were those tendrils? Spirits of some kind? Or something else? And why were they trapped inside the Colossus in the first place, as well as how did they get there?

 _Because they were sealed in there_.

But he still didn't know _why_. And more pressingly, why it was so important to Dormin that their vessels be destroyed. And why, when they sought a new vessel, they sought specifically after Faulklin. Not just one, but all of them, into the same already-occupied body. What was Dormin's and the Colossi's connection to each other? Were they servants of Dormin? Or enemies?

_In. Out._

For all his uncertainties, he knew one thing. Superstitious or not, whether Emon and his people were in good faith or bad, the forbidden lands were forbidden for a reason, as was the taboo of trying to resurrect the dead.

Faulklin was playing with fire, and no matter if he succeeded or not, he was going to get burned, if not consumed by it entirely.

Except no force in the world could stop the brat from being stupid. Plenty had tried.

He opened his eyes and glanced outside, another thought crossing his mind.

How long had it been? Were he to guess, between the time it took them to travel between fights, and the fights themselves, it _had_ to of been at least a full day. Night should be upon them, but he couldn't tell if the sun had even moved. The shadows still all cast the same direction as when they had first entered, and the sun had neither set nor risen, only stayed stationary.

Had they really been here such a short amount of time? Or did time flow differently here?

Was it naturally that way, or did Dormin have some involvement in that as well?

He sighed through his nose quietly and glanced over at Faulklin, still unconscious. Faulklin's loyal stallion still stood vigil over the boy, giving Daijoudan the dirty eye, ears flattened and nostrils flaring wider as their gazes met. Daijoudan disregarded the horse and sat back, resting his head on one propped knee.

Whatever the significance behind Dormin, the Colossus, and those shadows, Faulklin probably wouldn't care about any of it, even if Daijoudan had managed to piece all of it together and figured out what the grand scheme in all this was. Stubborn little ass didn't care about much of anything and refused to do what he was told, no matter how well-intentioned, and the silver-haired male didn't have the patience to keep arguing about it.

_At least its actually quiet now with his dumb ass unconscious._


	7. The Horse within the Glen

This time when Faulklin awoke, it was with confusion. Had he gone and fought the fourth Colossus? If he had, he couldn't remember. Nor did he think he'd laid down and gone to sleep. He didn't think he'd simply passed out either.

He groaned as he lifted his head off the ground and slid his arms under him, pushing himself up slightly and noting as he did so that there were a pair of feathered horse legs in front of him. It was at that point he glanced up, realizing that Rebel was standing directly over him, and the teen crawled out from under the stallion so that he could stand properly.

He didn't ache quite so badly, but the adolescent was still very much sore. The pain was little more than a dull, lasting throb though, and whatever amount of sleep he'd managed had been at least slightly rejuvenating.

Which raised the question... how long had he been out?

The sun hadn't seemed to have moved at all, light still cast through the same place as before, but it couldn't possibly be the same time of day.

Or maybe it wasn't the same day at all. Maybe he'd slept all the way until the next.

It was at that point his gaze lingered on Daijoudan, the man appearing to be asleep with one knee propped up, where he rested his head. Some memory that was just out of reach pricked at the back of his mind, something having to do with Daijoudan... yet he couldn't quite place what it was.

And then it all came flooding back.

"Son of a bitch!" Of all the nerve! For that asshole to knock him out like that!

Just as he began to storm up to the man, those silver hues cracked open faintly, not entirely alert but awake enough to recognize the younger male and his advance.

"Problem?"

"What the Hell do you think?" Faulklin snarled, bristling. "Fuck yes there's a problem, you narcissistic, overinflated piece of shit! What right do you think you have to try knocking me out?"

"I didn't _try_ anything, I just _did_." The silverette yawned, unaffected by Faulklin's anger. That didn't mean he let the brat grab him by the collar like the shorter boy intended, Daijoudan snatching his wrist firmly, looking entirely unapologetic. Maybe even so far as to say _smug_. Faulklin tried to hit him with the free hand, but Daijoudan caught that too.

"Let me go so I can hit you!"

Daijoudan snorted and rolled his eyes. "As if."

"Is that all you have to say?" Faulklin growled, narrowing his eye and trying to pull his wrists free.

"Well I _could_ insult you," Daijoudan hummed, the epitome of indifference. "But it would probably just go over your head." He stood up and Faulklin could feel the smirk in Daijoudan's voice even though he couldn't see one. "Just like my sightline."

Faulklin growled and raised his leg back to kick, but Daijoudan merely knocked the other one out from under him, at the same moment that he twisted his arms to spin the boy around and let him fall flat on his back against the steps, hissing in pain. Daijoudan huffed something that might have been laughter and stepped past him, going to his horse.

"Now are you coming or not?" Faulklin blinked and glanced over at the older male as he mounted his horse, clutching the reigns and looking bored. "I imagine you still haven't given up on slaying the other Colossi."

"Of course not," Faulklin snapped, getting to his feet and walking over to Rebel, hopping on the stallion's back. He took a moment just to breathe, his single eye flitting over Komeko's still form on the alter, before they headed out. He was trying to recall Dormin's words, but they were lost to memory. It probably didn't matter, anyway. He could find it with the sword's light and worry about how to defeat the fourth Colossus on his own merit.

He was silently hoping that this one wasn't going to be twice as large as the last one, as had seemed the theme so far. Those had been hard enough, but if every new one just got bigger and bigger, he wasn't sure how he would be able to keep up. Even he, the borderline poster child of unyielding stubbornness to the point most would probably call stupidity, had to admit that there was only so much that was humanly possible, even though he felt as if he had already pulled off three impossibilities so far.

Their path took them into a narrow ravine within easy sight of the Temple's entrance, cloaked in shadow and the ground covered in too many lizards, the small reptiles dashing out of their way and up the walls as the two riders came through. It wasn't terribly long and soon opened up with sunlight reaching a grassy glen just beyond a trench that cut across their path. Strings of lichen hung from a rocky overhang a few stories above them, and small trees sat on the edges of the valley where the sun didn't quite reach. In the center looked to be a half-mound of dirt with a small stone doorway leading underground.

There was still no sign of the Colossus, but both men kept their guards up as they circled the far lip of the trench that separated them from the field, keeping their senses trained for any sight or sound of the monster.

There was a distinctive hum of tree leaves rustling with the wind as they entered the field and Faulklin gazed around warily, but saw nothing immediately worth his attention. He was sure that this was the right place, though, and they continued on further, between the half-mounds, of which there were four spaced facing completely separate directions in a uniformed square pattern.

It was after passing the furthest mound that Faulklin spied it, a shape just around the bend of the cliff. He could make out the features of its head sitting up and body laying against the ground like some sort of resting deer, and was thankful that the creature was comparatively smaller than the last two.

"At least it isn't quite so big."

"Just don't get cocky," Daijoudan cautioned. "Size doesn't mean anything."

Faulklin snorted. "Take your own advice."

The brunette nocked an arrow and let it fly from a distance, but the Colossus didn't budge, as if sleeping. Faulklin waited, remembering how he had assumed as much with the last one, but it didn't stir at all and its eyes remained unlit, black pits. "I guess I'm going to have to get closer before it'll even recognize me," he sighed, flicking Rebel's reigns.

Just as he thought, as soon as he drew near, suddenly its eyes glowed blue and it seemed to awaken, dragging its front legs out from under it to haul itself to full height on sharp, spike-like legs.

 _Well, I got its attention now_.

Faulklin turned and signaled Rebel into a gallop away from it, the likewise horse-like Colossus lumbering after him at a considerably slow enough pace that he didn't have to worry too much, slowing next to Daijoudan as he tried to devise how he was going to tackle this one, raising his sword by the light. Once again, he was assured that one was atop the Colossus' head, and from the way the light angled, either on its back or shoulder, maybe even both shoulders.

The trick now was how he was going to get on top of it. This one didn't have any fur spots located within range, so he would have to find another way.

He didn't get more time to ponder as it came closer and they ran out of its path and into the trees, circling through the shadows of them and coming out on the far side, the Colossus skimming the edge of them to follow. What caught Faulklin's eye most were the stone danglies on the Colossus' head, like a string of huge hair beads. If he could grab onto them, perhaps he could climb straight up to its head.

He would need to get it to lower itself towards the ground though to reach them.

Then he remembered the mounds with doorways in them. If he went inside one, maybe it would stick its head down to find him again. He could use that moment to run back out and grab on.

"I think I have a plan, but first you need to get out of sight. Then when I get up onto the Colossus, distract it," he ordered Daijoudan, who frowned unpleasantly but didn't argue, steering his black-and-silver mare away into the shadow of the trees.

Faulklin rode past it towards the ravine and waited for the Colossus to come closer, pulling Rebel to a full stop until it was almost upon him and the animal, then kicked Rebel into a sprint around its legs, leaping off as they neared one of the tunnels. He nocked another arrow and fired it at the beast, waiting for it to turn and see him, and then disappeared into the darkness of the cave, satisfied to find that it went a fair distance deep and connected to the other tunnels in a small network.

He could still hear the crash of its sharp legs creating divots in the earth as it came closer, what light was pouring in starting to fade, up until he saw the danglies come into view as the Colossus lowered its head to peer in. Faulklin silently declared victory and went to run back out of the tunnel and grab onto them, but skidded to an abrupt halt as the Colossus' pillar of a leg appeared and jabbed inside. He cursed foully and threw himself further into the tunnel, instinctively flattening himself to the ground and feeling the very tip of the Colossus' stone leg just barely skim over his back and crash into the stone wall within, sending down a shower of dirt.

Somewhere he could hear the bray of a horse, and above him stone was splitting. Chunks raining down on top of him as the leg crashed inside, somewhere off to the other side now, clawing and trying to crush him. Then there was a whistling noise and the leg disappeared, dust choking the air too much to see almost anything at all.

Faulklin sucked in a few hard breaths and began to move, even as the Colossus' steps rattled directly above as it went to chase what was probably Daijoudan trying to save his scrawny ass. It took a great deal of effort to get back to his feet from beneath the rubble that had chunked off of the wall, leaving his back battered and aching, but there was nothing to be done about it now save for take a quick breather and continue with his task.

He could tell just by the noise and vibrations that the Colossus was away from this entrance and poked his head out, just to be sure, before walking back into the open and to the edge of the half-mound to see where the Colossus had gone.

Its back was to him now as it stomped in a circle over one of the mounds, as if searching or perhaps trying to crush something underneath it, then stood at the top of the mound, stabbing at the ground over and over in front of the other entrance. Maybe it had gotten Daijoudan, but somehow Faulklin doubted it.

Finally it splayed its legs out in all directions and lowered itself down to see into the hole, turning its head almost upside down, and leaving it blind to see anywhere else.

This was his chance.

He sprinted out of hiding and across the field, hoping as he did so that it would be distracted long enough for him to cross all that distance without being spotted. He wasn't sure whether or not the creatures had a learning curve, but he really didn't want to find out, because if they did, that could end in a very premature death.

Not that he truly believed he could pull off defeating all sixteen of these monsters, but he was going to try for as long as he could until he found his end.

It was only when he was within a yard or two of the Colossus that it finally noticed him, probably hearing his steps and hard breathing, and turned so that his face came almost into contact with its glassy blue eye, rising quickly. But not quickly enough, Faulklin managing to reach the hanging string of stone beads before they could rise from his reach.

As it rose, it snapped its head up, the beads and Faulklin flipping into the air and sending him soaring a good few feet. He crashed back down onto the crown rim of its stone-chiseled head, knocking the wind out of him, but he managed to hold on long enough to clamor over the edge and collapse into its fur as he tried to regain himself. Where he lay, a faint sigil began to glow to life, his sword likewise beginning to shine.

Just as he was drawing the sword from sheathe, it threw its head back and landed him in an undignified heap on its back, the teen ending up with a mouthful of coarse fur of which the only bath it had probably ever seen was the rain, of which had done nothing but further helped whatever foul organisms dwelled on it.

Spitting distastefully, he glanced off the beast's side and noted Daijoudan finding his horse and mounting to ride, before he was distracted himself by the Colossus shaking its entire body back and forth vigorously like a dog trying to shake off water. It was all he could do to hold on tightly and wait for it to cease, trying not to get flung or flipped straight off. A meeting with the dirt from this high up was beyond unappealing.

When it stopped, he swung his bow and quiver off, holding it ready to toss.

"Hey!" Daijoudan's head snapped up at his words, but there was no need to say anything else, the man riding closer until he was alongside the Colossus and just pausing long enough beside it to catch the arrows and bow, then dash away as the Colossus tried to turn for him and stomp one of its legs down into the soil and miss him.

Turning his attention away and trusting that Daijoudan wasn't likely to let himself get killed, Faulklin ran across the Colossus' back and tried to figure out where the other glyph not on its head was, the Colossus turning its head to look at him. He felt it bunch beneath his feet and he crouched down to grasp a fistful of fur as it rose onto its hind legs, swiveling around as it did so and trying to crush the smaller horses and Daijoudan as it crashed back down onto its front legs, rattling the earth and the boy on its back, just enough to wind him for a moment.

He leapt down onto one of the shoulders and a glyph glowed to life in the presence of the blade. Faulklin raised his sword to plunge into the Colossus' shoulder and earn a squeal of pain front it, the startled monstrosity staggering to one side and catching itself before it could fall. It shook itself and turned to glare red eyes at the offending petite on its shoulder, but an arrow quickly distracted it, bouncing off its stone face and making the Colossus jolt in surprise.

After three good stabs, the glyph disappeared, the Colossus switching its attention between the boy on its shoulder and man riding horseback firing arrows at it in obvious frustration, not sure which one of them to deal with first.

It turned and picked up its pace into a long-strided walk towards one of the stone walls, swiveling so that it could slam its side up against the rock wall and grind its shoulder as if trying to reach a pesky itch, but Faulklin was already off that shoulder and rolled down to the other one, stabbing the second glyph. The Colossus squealed again, bemoaning its irritation and pushed away from the wall.

It reared again and forced the small figure to hold on tightly, turning and its large head almost scraping the rock roof partially above the glade, a veil of hanging lichen and vines swinging as its head brushed through them.

Once he regained his footing, another deep jab to the shoulder sent the Colossus stumbling slightly. The third jab made it jolt and stumble sideways, nearly smashing Faulklin into the rock in a second attempt, but it missed its chance, if only just barely, as he climbed high enough to avoid such an outcome.

It was at this point that Faulklin went for a glowing crack at the base of the Colossus' neck, stabbing into it and making the entire beast spasm with a shrill screech, at the same moment that Daijoudan rode by and fired another volley of arrows at it to divert its attention. Shaking its head angrily, it bunched itself up to rear, and Faulklin stabbed the fissure in its neck again, another spasm traveling through the beast as it came crashing down and landed ungracefully, one spiked leg breaking through the earth bordering the glade's trench and sending it stumbling forward, its chin striking the other side hard and sending vibrations through Faulklin's bones as he held on tightly to keep from catching air.

The boy recovered faster than the Colossus did and ran down the length of its neck to its head where the last of the glyphs glowed brightly, beckoning for the blade to sheath within its center.

Falling to his knees, Faulklin hoisted the blade above his head and struck down with all of his might, the Colossus screaming and writhing as it tried to find its footing again, clawing open air beneath it instead. With the third stab, it found the side of the cliff and planted its dangling leg there, readjusting its footing on the other three and trying to rise out of the hole.

Two more stabs and it began to rise back up, trying to claw backward onto solid ground, but its single-digit foot slipped and it only fell further, becoming wedged between the two cliffs and flailing its legs against the earth with an alarmed bellow.

"Oi!" Faulklin didn't bother looking back, intent on finishing off the Colossus, and more than happy for how things had played out to make this a much easier kill than it would have been otherwise. "Move your ass out of there, before you fall and get crushed!"

Faulklin only scoffed and drove the blade down again, the battling giant losing fight and signaling that it was almost finished, and he had no intention of letting this fight become more difficult when he had the opportunity for such a quick, easy kill.

The Colossus tried to push itself up and out of the hole again, but the blade finally took what life it had left in it and it slipped further down abruptly, the entire beast going limp and slipping entirely over the side now and crashing to the bottom of the ravine with an echoing rumble, Faulklin holding on tightly to its fur and the sword lodged within it until it finally stopped at the bottom.

Dust filled the air as chunks of dirt and rock rained down from the cliff walls above where the Colossus slid down, though thankfully nothing large enough to worry over becoming a legitimate threat to his life. Finally a few stray clatters of settling soil was all that sounded in the following silence and shadows began to cloak the Colossus' corpse.

"You'd better hope you're faster than those damn tendrils at climbing, because I am _not_ hauling your idiot self out of there, no matter how tiny you are!"

Faulklin coughed on the dust in the air as he dislodged his blade and sheathed it, glancing about the space, which, thankfully, at least looked as though it had some navigable pathways up its side.

"Fine, then don't!" Faulklin snapped back, leaping down off the dead Colossus to the ground a few feet down and running up the path. Sadly, he wasn't quite quick enough to outrun the tendrils, and he only remained conscious long enough to hear Daijoudan curse profanely from above in annoyance.


	8. The Raptor aloft the Heavens

**"Thy next foe is... It casts a colossal shadow across a misty lake... as it soars through the sky... To reach it is no easy task."**

* * *

"I can't even begin to put to words how much I hate water," Faulklin growled under his breath, scowling as though the heat of his glare would make every last drop of it evaporate away.

The ride there, only slightly north of their last battle and a little further east, hadn't been terribly unpleasant at all, but at the words "lake", Faulklin couldn't help but dread this fight the entire run there.

After passing between the cliffs to find the half-crumbled ruins of what was probably their next battle stage, his fears were truly realized as he found that not only was there water he would have to cross to reach it first, but the entire territory of this Colossus truly was a lake, and with no discernible way to bypass _all that fucking water!_

Even climbing up onto a higher part of the stone shore, he could see that it wasn't merely a moat, like the area surrounding the third one's arena, but that there was a great deal of water beyond that as well, submerging most of the structures that once stood there, probably above water centuries before, now only a shadow of its former glory.

"Giving up?" Daijoudan wondered aloud, arms crossed over his chest as he stared out over the lake as well in scrutiny.

"Of course not," Faulklin scoffed, Khu shuffling comfortably on his shoulder, glossy black feathers tickling his nape.

"Going to ask for my help?"

"Not even in your dreams," Faulklin snorted. Daijoudan raised a brow at him.

"Going to drown yourself trying again, then?"

"Are you going to be disappointed if I tell you 'no'?"

"And surprised that that one brain cell you have left is actually managing to win dominance for once."

Faulklin glared at him. "Keep it up and the only dominance you'll be fighting for is air as I hold your head underwater."

Daijoudan only snorted at the empty threat. Empty not because he doubted Faulklin would try, but more because he would be hard-pressed to overpower the other in order to succeed at it. "You must have some broad delusions of adequacy if you think that's going to happen."

"Says the guy whose brain waves fall short of the beach."

"Says the guy whose mouth is too big for his muzzle," Daijoudan retorted. "Now close it and figure out what we're going to do about this. Otherwise I have better things to do than stand around listening to you be useless."

Faulklin's eye wandered the stone structures in lip-pursed silence as he did just that, trying to figure out how he was going to get past and deal with the water, because he certainly as Hell wasn't going to ask Daijoudan to carry him, he didn't imagine he would be able to teach himself in such a short span of time, and going back at this point simply wasn't an option. Not as far as he was concerned, at least.

His gaze wandered the wall and arches of the stone ruin to the cliff, and then scrutinized the natural stone itself where there were occasional ledges and plants sprouting along it.

"I bet I could climb to those structures," he decided at last, walking alongside the shallows toward it and picking out where on the cliff he could climb and get across without breaking his neck, mentally planning his route already. It looked doable, at least for him. Daijoudan could figure out his own plans on how to reach the other side, whether he swam or whatever else.

Or he could just stay behind, but Faulklin, for one reason or another, doubted that he would.

Really, he still had no idea why the man had even bothered to come along. Other than playing as a distraction, he was damn useless, and the boy couldn't quite place his finger on what sort of personal reasons the guy had for coming, either.

It didn't matter, though. Either way, Faulklin really didn't give two shits why Daijoudan was there, and though he refused to admit it, he _had_ come in more handy once or twice rather than been a hindrance or a liability. He could have been stuck with worse. He could have been stuck with better though, too.

Finding his path up the stone, he climbed up it with relative ease until he reached a ledge where grass and a small tree overhung the water, picking his way across carefully. He knew Daijoudan wasn't climbing after him, nor that the man would be able to the way he could, but he wasn't sure if the other stayed on the shore or swam either.

It took much more time and effort than may have been necessary compared to simply asking that the other man help him swim across, and his limbs were tired by the time he managed to reach the human-made structure, almost having slipped and fallen into the water several yards below more than once. At last, he made it and ran across the structure of the arch on the left side, leaping across the gaps from where part of it crumbled, to the pillars, and then onto the bridge pathway beyond that where Daijoudan waited with hair and clothes still wet from his short swim.

"What dragged you under and tried to drown you?" Faulklin snorted in mockery of the man's dripping appearance.

"How'd you like to be next?" Daijoudan shot back, rolling his eyes.

Faulklin only shrugged and continued on up the steps to the structure overlooking the lake, just as he heard the long, loud whoosh of gigantic wings and a massive shadow flickered over them. Faulklin tensed and hung back under the doorway as he watched the beast soar overhead and the crow on his shoulder startle and tense, ready to fly away in alarm.

It was a bird of mammoth proportion. In body, it was the smallest Colossus they had seen thus far, but the length of its wings and tail made up the difference. Both could hear the wind whistle around its form like the roar of a jet as it flew, each one of its wing-beats creating an audible gust to give it lift.

Fur covered most of its top half, while the bottom of its body was hairless. Its underside had an intricate network of carved ribs against the flat of its wings, and stone legs with grinding joints as its claws splayed for purchase on a pillar of carved stone that it landed on. On its stone head arched a row of spines, like a crest of feathers on a cockatoo, though it more resembled an eagle than anything.

From its pillar - which audibly crunched beneath the weight of the Colossus, yet still held - it let its wings rest at its sides as it turned to face them, blue eyes piercing the distance to watch them, but it didn't attack nor seem to hold any interest in coming closer, waiting on the far side of the lake, almost as if unknowingly taunting the brunette who couldn't swim to go after it. Its long tail hung down behind it with such great length that the end tip almost touched the water, even though the tower it sat upon was even taller than the first Colossus, the Minotaur, had been.

"So, any bright ideas on how you're going to do this?"

"I'm thinking on it," Faulklin grumbled, subconsciously reaching a hand up to scratch behind Khu's head and calm the nervous crow.

He stepped out further onto the balcony and surveyed the lake, but every structure he could potentially get on top of was much further out, and there was still the problem of him drowning if he jumped down into the water. He still had no intention whatsoever of asking Daijoudan to assist him in swimming, so he had to find another way. If he could get it to come in close, he might be able to do something... from this distance though, an arrow wouldn't reach, and he wasn't sure that would be enough to even draw its attention anyway. Besides, there were spiked fence bars that would be hard to climb over without falling or getting himself skewered on.

It was at this point that his eye traveled up further, not forward, but above and behind him at the structure they stood on. There was an upper level, a tower of sorts, that was weathered away and crumbling but still in-tact. A partial circle suggested some sort of long-forgotten steeple. If he could climb up there and draw its attention, maybe he could avoid the water altogether.

Drawing its attention was going to be the trick though, and the only way he was going to do that, as far as he could tell, was if he got closer first.

Or at least that _one_ of them did.

"I think I know a way," he said finally. "But... it's going to require you to do something for me."

"And what would that be?" Daijoudan questioned neutrally.

"I just need you to lure it out somehow. If I can climb up there," he directed above, Daijoudan's eyes following his movements. "-and either get it to land or get it to fly close, then I could jump onto it without having to go into the water and swim... or rather, drown."

"And how do you expect me to get its attention to up there?" Daijoudan demanded.

"You don't have to, just get it in the air," Faulklin stated, before stopping as though something occurred to him and pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "Except... I only have the one bow, and that's our best chance of getting its attention. If you're using it to draw the Colossus' attention, then I'll have to find another way."

Daijoudan hummed indecision. "And what about its weak points? Do you know where those are?"

Faulklin glanced up as if he had forgotten and drew the blade from its scabbard, but when he held it up to point to the weak spots, the glow was inefficiently weak in the shadows and the Colossus too far away to get an accurate pin-point on where they were.

"No, but we're just going to have to deal with that bridge when we come to it. First order of business is to get onto the Colossus itself."

Daijoudan merely nodded unhappily and took the bow and quiver of arrows offered to him, standing at the edge of the platform where it was crumbled away so that he could jump down to the water.

"Just make sure you figure out something useful, half-ass. I don't like my time being wasted."

Faulklin snorted. "And what do you have to do with your time that's so important? Obviously not running your country since you're here with me."

Daijoudan gave him a dirty look but said nothing, jumping down to the water below while Faulklin looked for a way to climb up higher. The drop felt a little too long as he fell but the silver-haired man quelled any primal sense of fear that accompanied the pull of gravity, sucking in a breath just before he finally hit the water and closing his eyes.

Liquid cold formed around every inch of his being like an ever-shifting mold and lifted his hair up away from his face as he sunk several feet, his ears flooding first with a loud smack as he pierced the surface, followed closely by the low rumble of waves and invisible current mixing and churning against each other slowly and of bubbles fluttering toward the freedom of open air.

He kicked his legs and surfaced, sucking in a breath, and then another, flicking water out of his face as he blinked his eyes open. The Colossus still had yet to move, only watching him from afar. Hopefully it would stay that way long enough for him to reach solid ground, as he didn't enjoy the thought of being scooped out of the water in its talons like some common, helpless fish dinner.

Taking a breath, he dove just under the surface and began to swim for the stone structures that sat within the lake, making up the distance within the span of a few minutes and heaving himself onto the platform of an almost-submerged pillar. Glancing up at the great bird as he drew an arrow from the quiver Faulklin had given him, he notched it.

He wondered just before he let it fly if this would even register on the behemoth, or if it would only care for Faulklin as most seemed to, but fired none the less.

The arrow bounced off its face and spun down to the water anti-climactically, but the Colossus let out a shriek of annoyance and raised its wings to lift into the air after all, dropping forward into a swoop. At least he didn't have to drag Faulklin down here with him to get it to act.

He braced himself as he watched it swoop straight down at him and let out a shriek, splaying stone talons forward, though it was off-center from actually grabbing him. Instead, he watched as a thick wall of wing quickly closed the distance, ready to slam against him with the full force of all fifteen tons of the beast's weight, an impact that would surely kill him instantly.

He dove to the side and disappeared into the water just before it passed over him with no time to spare, its tailwind buffeting him even from underneath the water and pulling a small wave in its wake. He surfaced again and swam back to the stone as he heard its wings flapping behind him in slow but powerful beats, slowing its direction and swiveling back to face him as he climbed back onto the stone platform.

He cursed as it dove again with an angry screech, and he was forced to dive back into the water, spinning under the surface to look straight up and watch as it zoomed by with startling speed and force, its long tail scraping against the stone platform, but it vanished from reach before he could climb out and potentially jump onto its tail.

As he was watching it, he noticed the fur on its wings where they made an unnatural wall at the base. If he could grab onto it, then perhaps he could climb up, but that would require letting it _hit_ him going full tilt, and he didn't dare assume he would survive such a force impacting his body. Faulklin might have been dumb enough to try it, but he certainly wasn't.

As it dove at him again, he leapt onto the far one of the three stone platforms and flattened himself down so that its wing-tip barely passed over him, leaping to his feet as quick as was humanly possible, maybe even more so, and sprinting to leap across the stones, throwing himself onto the very last foot of its tail just before it took off into the sky again.

He scrambled up a few more feet with the help of several handfuls of fluffy fur as the wind itself alone threatened to throw him backwards, and only now was he learning to appreciate the speed of which this gargantuan bird could soar, the force of the moving air alone choking up his nose and mouth and making it nearly impossible to draw adequate breath, instead forcing him to take quick, short gasps.

The Eagle banked sharply to one said and he almost fell, his grip not as tight as he had originally thought and the man unable to help but cast a glance over his shoulder at the lake and stone structures below, feeling like his stomach was doing involuntary flips. Finally it leveled out, only to flap its wings and climb higher. Seeing the beast flying through the air earlier wasn't quite the same as being on it and the other thing that Daijoudan quickly came to both appreciate and lament was exactly how high they were climbing.

Drawing in several hard breaths and feeling as though his airways would burst, he began a long, slow climb up the great length of its tail, thanking the Gods that it was one long, flat strip rather than various ledges and uneven surfaces or stone structures that would be impossible to pass over while also battling with the wind itself to stay grounded.

It swooped downward, picking up speed, and then soared high into the air, making Daijoudan notably queasy, but he held on and flattened himself against it to reduce wind-drag that tried to swirl under him and lift it straight off the Colossus' back/tail.

The stone structure that walled in the lake passed by and he looked to the side, briefly glancing Faulklin as the youth braced himself for the incoming gust of tail-wind and watched Daijoudan with a wide-eyed, yet calculative look.

Soon enough it left the smaller brunette-blond behind without coming anywhere even remotely close to the tower though. They were going to need to figure something out, before this altitude sickness made it impossible for him to either think or hold on.

Arrows would only be a minor nuisance to it, but they seemed to notice it at least. What of one of his swords? Would they damage it, or was only Faulklin's sword capable of causing it significant injury? It was at that moment he was wishing he had asked Faulklin to just give him the damn blade and then _he_ could have done it, but it was too late now.

Drawing his silver blade from its scabbard, he drove it down into the Colossus' tail experimentally and heard it screech, but it was more a sound of minor irritation than true damage. Perhaps only because it wasn't one of the weak points, but how was he supposed to find them?

At the very least, the Colossus seemed to change course slightly thanks to his blow. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage. It was finding its way back towards the steeple as it arched around the path of the circular mountain walls, so now was his best chance to do it.

Sheathing his sword again as the beast swooped and soared through the air, not even having slowed, he took the bow off his back and started to set an arrow, but he already knew he wouldn't be able to free the other hand, instead pulling the string and feathered end back between his teeth. It was crude, but he didn't have much choice. Making sure his lips and tongue wouldn't be in the way of the string when he released the pressure, he let it go and the arrow whizzed forward, slightly off-course, but planted solidly into its shoulder on the left side, the bird shrieking and flapping to the side away from it.

Its course took it closer than ever to the ruined tower of the steeple, and it just now seemed to notice where its path was leading it, adjusting its direction with a sharp tilt to one side. Daijoudan could see Faulklin crouched precariously on the highest reachable point, bunched and ready to leap as the Colossus came closer and closer. Even over the roaring wind and the bird's calls, he could almost feel the kid's blood hammering hard in his chest with the knowledge that if he didn't get this _exactly_ right the first time, there was going to be no chance for a second attempt.

Just before the bird passed by, Faulklin threw himself forward, blade already drawn and meeting the far end of the Colossus' outstretched wings as it blasted by, driving his blade down into the fur there to keep from being blown away as it kept going.

As it just so happened, that was where one of the glyphs was located, and the avian unleashed a deafening shriek of agony, tilting even further to the side and falling into a downward roll until it was fully upside-down, forcing both males to hold on for all their worth or fall a good hundred feet to what might be their deaths if they couldn't hold out. It held like that for a moment, descending towards the lake, before rolling fully back to right-side-up and beat its wings to regain the altitude it had lost, almost throwing Faulklin in the process, but the boy held on stubbornly until it fell back into a still glide.

When Faulklin was sure he wouldn't be thrown, he pulled the blade free and punctured it through, earning another scream from the beast and a full barrel roll through the sky. When it began to level out, tilting to the side sharply, Faulklin let go and tumbled down the slope of its wing until he hit the row of spikes across the center of its back, grasping the fur there to stay on top of it.

Daijoudan soon joined him, having been steadily working his way there from the tail end.

"I bet the other glyph is on the other wing as well," Faulklin panted, flattening himself down into the fur and turning his face away from the wind so he could breathe and talk proper.

"So go and finish it," Daijoudan scoffed, having to pause mid-way as his throat involuntarily seized against the wind.

"You're kidding, right?" Faulklin gaped, his brows raising so high they almost disappeared into his hairline. "Do you have even the slightest fucking clue how powerful a bird's wings have to be to give it lift? Much less one the size of a god damn building? And even IF I could swim, hitting the water from this high up would be like landing on solid stone. It would probably kill us _both_."

Daijoudan huffed. No, he didn't know much of anything about birds, other than the basics of what everyone else knew. He was aware that they were built light in the bones, but that didn't really apply the same way with a beast made of stone. It had to be startlingly heavy for something able to fly, which meant it really must have some strong, capable wings. When he thought about it, Faulklin was actually right. It wasn't going to be as easy as _'just run over and stab it'_. As much as he taunted Faulklin's intelligence, there were some things that the teen knew probably better than he did, even with all of the education he had received throughout his life.

"So how are we going to do this?" Because they might not get another chance if they fell, and there was still the problem that Faulklin couldn't swim. Once the bird's other wing was struck, and the glyph finished, it would probably fall from the sky.

"I don't know," Faulklin admitted vehemently, his single eye darting in thought, trying to form a plan and failing. Daijoudan's eyes wandered as they soared over the stone structures.

"I think I do," he spoke, managing to earn Faulklin's undivided attention. "If we time it right, we might be able to get it to land on one of those stone structures, or we could leap off when we get close, before we can hit the water."

"You know we're likely to get maimed in the landing, right?" Faulklin pointed out.

"I think we can manage," Daijoudan muttered. "But it's going to take some coordination and perfect timing."

Faulklin licked his lips in thought, then nodded. What other choice did they have? It was either finish off the Colossus here and now, or go back. And he refused to go back until he had finished what he'd started.

It was a shame that one of the Colossus he was having to slay was a giant bird. He rather liked and envied birds. Under different circumstances, he would have liked to attempt coexisting with such a magnificent beast as this one, were it possible. Probably not, but he could always dream on it, and few could brag that they had truly _flown_ through the open air like he was doing now, even if it was hitching a ride on an unwilling host.

Steadying his nerves as best he could, he stood as the bird leveled off, neither tilted nor flapping its wings to gain height, and sprinted for its wingtip, throwing himself down as a gust almost carried him away. He raised his sword and stabbed it into the wing once and braced himself with a tight hold, one on the fur, the other still holding the blade handle that ran through its wing, as it rolled through the air again, making the world spin dizzyingly.

He was breathing too hard and fast when it finally straightened again and he thought he might pass out, but he stubbornly clung on and stabbed the glyph a second time, so that it disappeared, making it spin once more.

He expected it to fall to earth now that both glyphs on its wings were gone, but it stayed aloft, once again flapping to ascend higher. Faulklin held on with waning strength and just tried to fight off a wave of nauseous unconsciousness that threatened to crush down on him, struggling to take in adequate air, and the motion of the wings flicking up and down making it harder to keep his shaky grasp on awareness.

He needed to get back to the center, before he was flung skyward only to come crashing back down.

When its wings stilled, he stood on shaky legs and tried to run back, but it started to flap again and he lost his balance, his heart jumping into his throat as he fell forward and was pushed back by the wind, the solid surface of the Colossus disappearing from underneath him and sending him tumbling.

He fully expected the water or a stone structure to come rushing up to meet him, and then everything after that would go black, but instead something latched onto his wrist and he cried out as his shoulder popped out of socket, momentarily making his eye roll back into his head in disorientation and pain.

When he finally managed the will and energy to look up, it was at Daijoudan's strained face as he barely managed to hang over the edge, the other arm hidden where it gripped the fur of the Colossus' tail base. Twice now that made where the man had kept him from falling to his doom, but this time, Faulklin wasn't complaining.

"Sheathe your sword and try to climb up!" Daijoudan ordered harshly, not looking quite as bad as Faulklin felt, but still disheveled and beyond unhappy with their predicament.

Faulklin only nodded and struggled against the wind to slide his sword back into its scabbard as Daijoudan started to pull him up. Faulklin hissed at the pain of his dislocated shoulder but didn't voice that it was ailing him, instead scrambling to find purchase somewhere on the Colossus' tail so he could climb back up. Daijoudan grasped the back of his shirt once he had a hand securely woven into its fur and pulled him up the rest of the way where they could both collapse, the larger man's chest pressing against his shoulders at an angle and keeping him pinned so he wouldn't be blown away.

"I felt your shoulder pop when I caught you. Is it dislocated?"

"Yeah," Faulklin gasped, not having the energy or composure at the moment to do anything except lay there and count the stars that he hadn't fallen into the lake.

He managed to gulp down some more air before glancing up and ahead at the body of the bird as it continued to soar, swooping down harshly and pulling up to skim the water as if trying to build up enough speed to knock them clear off its back, forcing both of them to cling tightly to its fluff.

"But there isn't anything we can do about it here." Resetting a joint took a lot of careful maneuvering and physical coordination, and they had no such luxury aboard this monstrosity's back. "There's one more glyph we need to hit." At _least_ one more. "Let's just finish this, and we can worry about it afterwards."

Daijoudan nodded his agreement and pushed himself up so that Faulklin could move. The boy had already found the glyphs on its wings, and none had appeared on its back, so by process of elimination, it had to be further down the tail. Once they were sure it was safe to stand and move, they ran down the length of its tail until they reached the end, where the last sigil appeared, and they knelt down there in preparation.

"Ready?"

Faulklin nodded as he unsheathed his sword with his working arm, Daijoudan keeping a steadying hand around his waist since he lacked the other to hold on with, and plunged the blade down.

The Colossus screeched angrily and picked up speed, tilting sharply and turning almost fully around, so that its tail snapped back harshly and almost threw them, but Daijoudan only held on with both hands tightly, Faulklin partially tucked against his chest so as not to be blown back.

He wedged the blade free and stabbed it down, again, and again, earning more agonized keens from the beast. It swooped down, using gravity to almost throw them off despite Daijoudan's firm grasp, and then angled sharply up, flying almost a full ninety degrees straight at the sky above and ascending towards the heavens with great rapidity. If they fell from such a height as they were reaching, they would probably fall unconscious in the fall before they even hit the water, and when they hit, they would likely die.

"Finish it!" Daijoudan barked, exhaustion seeping through his bones and tight fingers, a black fountain of blood erupting upward and pelting Faulklin's chest and both of their faces, momentarily blinding the boy.

He raised his arm to wipe it away from his eyes before going back to stabbing it several times as they climbed higher and higher, making him both sick and frightened of the fall they were going to have to endure. Finally, one last plunge was signaled by the light disappearing, and the form of the bird jerked abruptly as it stopped flapping, hanging in the air for a moment.

Then it began to fall, both of them holding on for dear life as it descended towards earth and the lake. With the force that it was falling towards the water, there might not be much left of them once they hit.

"We're going to have to jump off the end of its tail near the bottom!"

"Are you insane?!" Faulklin screeched, panic evident in his voice, knowing just how slim their chances were.

"When its body hits the water, it'll slow down somewhat. Jump off right then and we should be fine!"

Faulklin nodded, but his body trembled with uncertainty, trying to simply breathe properly and remain conscious long enough to do so as the descent tugged black spots at the edge of his vision. The lake quickly rushed up to meet them as black cloaked the bird's form mid-fall and one of the structures was close enough to leap onto.

"Now!" Daijoudan ordered, standing up and leaping for the ledge, barely catching it and rolling as he hit.

Faulklin moved to leap as well, but the black tendrils that escaped the body of the Colossus caught him mid-step and he faltered in mid-leap, tumbling through the air and hitting the water. Daijoudan heard the splash before he saw and ran back to the edge, cursing as he watched the boy sink beneath the surface and disappear.

Drawing in an exhaustion-shaky breath, he dove off the top and into the water, the impact hurting his chest, but he kept going, managing to reach Faulklin before the depths could swallow him whole. When they surfaced, the boy sputtered water from his mouth, still breathing, but even that wasn't enough to bring him back to consciousness.

The man sighed in exasperation as he paddled toward one of the platforms near the surface of the lake, which glittered with larger waves than it had probably seen in decades in the aftermath of the Colossus' crash. Most unusual was that even as the monster's fur crumbled away and it solidified into solid stone, it still floated on the surface of the water buoyantly. Daijoudan had no such way to explain how it was possible, but he didn't bother dwelling on it. Instead he only heaved an annoyed sigh.

Now he was going to have to find a way to swim back with the kid and figure out how they were going to climb out of this lake past the wall.


	9. The Hermit beneath the Mountain

When Faulklin stirred from the black pits of unconsciousness once more, this time it wasn't laying flat on the ground of the large Shrine where the statues of the Colossi sat vigil, but rather to the rolling gait of Rebel's back as the stallion travelled at an even canter. One arm rested across the horse's shoulders and the other - the one that hadn't been dislocated in the fight - instinctively wove into long hair as his face rested against the bridge of its neck.

He could hear the crash of water, some distance, but still close. The faint whiff of salt twinged his nose. He flicked his single eye open just as they emerged from the shadow of the cliff, closing it again when the harsh light of the sun assaulted it. He sat up, blinking his eye open against the bright light.

Dormin's shrine was within easy distance, Daijoudan's mare in the lead and leading Rebel along by the end of the reigns, held in Daijoudan's hand.

Faulklin sat up further and noted that his arm wasn't limp as it should have been, his uninjured hand reaching up to probe his shoulder gingerly, but it was already set back in its socket while he had been unconscious. No mystery as to who had done so.

Why did he wake up here and not back in the Shrine? Daijoudan must have been taking his sweet time to return.

"You awake?"

"Yeah," he sighed in return.

Daijoudan said nothing more to him as they pressed onward back towards the Shrine, Khu flying just above them the entire way until their horses trotted up the steps back inside, the clack of hooves echoing off the walls as they pulled to a halt within.

Khu landed on Faulklin's shoulder as the boy slid down from Rebel's saddle and walked up the steps of the Shrine to where Komeko lay on the alter, five white doves startling from where they sat around it and flying out into the open air. Daijoudan's gaze lingered on them in suspicion as they disappeared between the pillars, but he said nothing.

Faulklin's own eye was fixated on Komeko too much to notice, surveying her pale features, but nothing seemed to have changed. He traced a finger over her face, down her neck, and he thought he felt a small hint of warmth there where it should have been cold as ice by now and his eye widened ever so slightly. He hovered a hand over her nose and lips, waiting almost expectantly to feel a soft breath on his skin, but there was nothing.

It was too bold of a hope. They had only slain five of the Colossi at this point. There were still another eleven to go. Dormin would not grant his wish until he held up his part of the bargain, and he knew as much, but there was a faint sign of life, at least, to reassure him that the beings' promise was not an empty one.

The horses stirred nervously behind them as a ringing filled his ears and Faulklin turned, one of the statues becoming engulfed in light, and then imploding in on itself and crumbling within its small alcove. A harsh murmur in the air and a presence Faulklin was quickly becoming familiarized with filled every inch of the room.

**_"Thy next foe is... A giant lurks underneath the temple... It lusts for destruction... but a fool, it is not."_ **

Faulklin didn't even wait for the presence to fully fade before he was upon Rebel's back again, flicking the reigns back around the horse's neck and readying to ride. Daijoudan walked down the steps briskly as well.

"Hold on."

"I'm not stopping," Faulklin snapped.

"I didn't tell you to," Daijoudan rebuked harshly, giving the mouthy brat a glare as he went to his horse and retrieved something, tossing it to the kid. "Here."

Faulklin caught it and raised a brow in confusion.

"It's fruit." There had been a tree near the far cliff just outside the 5th Colossus' territory absolutely overflowing with it. Daijoudan himself had eaten here or there in small amounts since they'd arrived, but he knew Faulklin hadn't. He'd meant to convince the boy they needed to find food and eat sooner, but the brunette had been in such a rush to run toward the Colossus and his possible death that Daijoudan hadn't had the chance.

The man was expecting some kind of argument, but instead all he got was silence as the brunette bit into it and flicked Rebel's reigns. He also didn't expect a thanks, nor did he get one, but the brief glance of begrudging gratitude that flickered across the boy's face was enough to satisfy him.

When they exited the Shrine once more, they both noticed something they had been too preoccupied to see before, a narrow pillar of light that rose from the site of the first Colossus' - the Minotaur's - territory. When Daijoudan glanced to the left, there was another, and one beyond that where their most recent fight had probably been. The pillars rose up into the sky and the clouds where the beams touched swirled in a small, stationary funnel.

"Those must be the fallen Colossus."

"Valus," Faulklin hummed under his breath distractedly, catching Daijoudan off-guard. "And Pheadra and Avion."

"What?" Daijoudan couldn't help but raise his brows in confusion at the seemingly out-of-the-blue words, their meaning lost on him. There was a look in Faulklin's eye for a flicker of a second, as if he wasn't all-there, before he shook it off like a dream.

"Those are their names."

"And how do you know that?"

Faulklin thought for a moment, and then he simply shrugged. "I just do."

"You _'just do'_?" Daijoudan repeated, narrowing his eyes at Faulklin in accusing scrutiny.

Faulklin only returned him an annoyed glared, fully coming back into his default attitude, rather than that uncharacteristic, distant calm. "Did I stutter? Y'know what, never mind. Don't think too hard on it, you might sprain something. Come to think of it, do you even have a brain to damage?"

"Why?" Daijoudan snorted. "Do you need a donation?"

"First you would need one to give," Faulklin retorted, unsheathing his sword and raising it to the light so that they could find their next Colossus to slay. It pointed southwest of where they were and he put the blade away, flicking the reigns.

They rode across the field toward a cluster of trees just to the right side of the Minotaur - Valus' - cliff, branches poking over rock and signifying a forest beyond. There were also tall, narrow pillars, things Daijoudan thought might be tree trunks at first, but realized they were stone and man-made.

The grass as they reached a wide opening between the cliffs became longer and wilder here, some of it reaching as high as the knees of their horses. Sure enough, there was a forest just beyond, the branches soon blotting out all but the sparsest mottling of light on a leaf-blanketed forest floor.

They slowed warily as the shadows overcame them and both listened and looked for any signs of a Colossus, but they saw none, and it seemed too dense with plant life to allow one to move about anyway. So they relaxed slightly as they walked.

Now, though, there was another problem: finding their way through the trees of this unfamiliar place.

They looked and listened, but even for a forest, this place was startlingly silent. No birds chirped their songs here and no animals either prey or predator seemed to stir, even from beneath the foliage of the leaves. It was unnaturally still and even the horses became nervous, noses audibly flaring for signs of some beast lying in wait to spring upon them, but there was nothing.

"Here," Daijoudan broke the silence, tossing another fruit to Faulklin for the boy to catch. "You need to keep up your strength." He eyed the younger male critically as he said this, as if trying to find some source of injury or see through any sort of mask that might be hiding exhaustion. "We should rest, too. These Colossus battles are only going to get harder the further we continue."

"I'm actually feeling pretty good," Faulklin shrugged as he bit into the fruit, shifting back comfortably in Rebel's saddle. Upon smelling the fruit, the stallion arched his head back and sniffed in want, the boy rolling his eyes and smirking as he gave what remained to the equine.

"Don't lie about it," Daijoudan warned.

"No, really," Faulklin stated honestly. "I do." He hadn't really been thinking about it before, but now that he did, he truly felt fine. He was still aching and sore, yes, but not as badly as he had been after the first few fights. He wouldn't quite say that he felt energetic, but he didn't feel as weary as he thought he would, either. Perhaps that should have made him stop and question a little bit more, but it didn't matter. He shrugged to himself again, dismissing it. "I hardly feel tired at all. Maybe even strong and rejuvenated."

He felt Daijoudan's eyes narrow on him once more. Faulklin was a stubborn person, but he was also still human, prone to the same weaknesses and fatigue as everyone else.

Actually, Daijoudan had always known him to be a little on the short side when it came to long-term stamina. He was healthier and stronger than he had been when Daijoudan had first known him, when Mamoru had first taken him in and cared for the boy, but he was still considerably frail for a young man of his age, and rather negligent at taking proper care of himself when Mamoru didn't issue reminders or coax him into doing things he already should. Eating was one of them, which took its toll and showed in his too-thin frame.

Even Daijoudan was feeling the affects of their fights, starting to become more worn-down than he would like, and he was just as stubborn as the other male, physically stronger, and considerably better at taking care of his needs to make sure he was as effective in everything he did as was humanly possible.

For Faulklin to say that he actually felt _rejuvenated_ after their struggles against five massive monsters most couldn't even fathom in their imaginations, something was wrong. Whether it was related or not, he immediately recalled those black, inky tendrils that had woven out of the slain Colossi's corpses and found new refuge inside the boy afterwards.

"It isn't natural for you to feel that way," the man warned, the tone of his voice entirely serious and foreboding. "Something is wrong if you truly, physically feel that way."

Faulklin glanced sideways at him in question, not seeming even the slightest bit concerned. He was someone that didn't seem to fathom the meaning of the word _caution_ , but then, he didn't seem to fathom a lot of things.

"I don't see what the problem is."

"Just be careful," he advised. Daijoudan already knew the boy wasn't going to listen to his warnings, so he didn't know why he bothered, but he offered up the words anyway. "Whatever those _things_ are that took refuge in you after you killed the Colossi, there's no telling what they might be doing to you, or what this Dormin being is after. Don't let yourself be blinded by it. In all truth, you should probably give up this quest now, before something bad happens to you and it becomes too late to reverse it."

Faulklin merely shrugged again. "It doesn't matter." The same words he had given Dormin, and the same words he stuck by now. As far as he was concerned, it was meaningless. He almost wanted to laugh at the fact that Daijoudan was under the assumption his own life meant anything to him. "I'm still going to see it through, no matter what."

He nudged Rebel faster and left Daijoudan to shake his head with a grumble of exasperation before following.

They passed by a smaller shrine, same as one that they went past on the way to the 5th Colossus'... to _Avion_ 's territory, but didn't stop there, instead heading towards a part in the trees where the light became visible again. Their horses splashed through a shallow pond, and they slowed as Faulklin noticed just ahead that the land dropped away below, too steep to travel. He glanced to the right where the trees thinned and he could see the gaping maw of a cave just beyond the light.

Their path took them over a short, naturally weathered bridge and Faulklin held his sword up to find out where the light would guide, but it only bounced off in all separate directions. He pulled his horse to a halt and angled the blade, trying to relocate the direction they would need to find, and saw as it pointed through a rock wall beyond the cave entrance.

They headed through it into the shadows, heading straight away from a bend in the cave, and the wind howled just ahead, signaling an open expanse. Light illuminated a cliff wall on the right, so they would have to turn left.

When they did, the sun reflected gold off the land so intensely that they were blinded, pulling back on the reigns to slow their horses until their vision could adjust, squinting through sand-glittered wind that blew their hair back. Soft grains crunched under-hoof and once they were able to see at last, Faulkln's blue eye widened in awe of an endless sea of sand that melted into heat-blurred obscurity after what Faulklin would guess were a few miles touched only by the breeze.

They rode to the crest of a hill overlooking the desert, the only place within view that sprouted grass, and what vegetation it did have was dry and brittle, shattering under the steps of their mounts. He squinted into the distance, but could see nothing worth his attention that would even remotely suggest the presence of a Colossus, or a structure that might be its resting place or indicate a path, though with the sun in his face, it was hard to tell.

Raising his sword, the blade almost seemed to suck all of the light from the desert, tainting it a deep veil of shadowed blue to his eyes instead of gold. As he turned it left, the beams of light that came slightly together parted again, so instead he angled it right until it pointed at a U-shaped structure of pillars that barely poked out of the side of one of the mountains, rendered visible now that the sun no longer shrouded the land in glare, the sword seeming to rumble a low growl in his hand in eagerness of tasting the blood of another Colossus.

He nudged Rebel's side and they ran towards it, down steep slopes and plowing small waves of sand in front and alongside them as they went, leaving behind a thin trail that was soon blown over and erased by the wind. The shadows of the mountainside were startlingly cool after the sun left his back, but he ignored it and pressed onward toward the entrance, which was blocked by fallen, square stones that seemed almost deliberately placed. Beyond was a tunnel leading down, where their horses couldn't follow. They would have to proceed on foot.

Their path was a tunnel, lined in several small blockades of stone as they went, but none that were impassible, only a minor nuisance. Finally, after they had traveled a good deal underground, the tunnel opened up. Just ahead was a wider platform that clung to this side of the wall, and at the edge, a crumbled archway where the floor fell away into a deep, long pit. A thicker pillar with an 'm' shaped arc sat in the middle of the deep chamber, and from just above it, an opening where light poured down from above.

As they walked, both noted unhappily that the floor of the large chamber was at least a full hundred feet down, and with what looked like no stairs or way to get down easily. There was also no sign of the aforementioned Colossus and no light to use the sword to locate it, at least not where they were.

"I feel like this is the right place," Faulklin hummed, walking around the edge of the drop to the far end where it overlooked, glancing over the ledge and trying to figure out a safe path down. "But I don't hear or see anything." Even in a quiet tone, his voice sounded startlingly loud in the large chamber.

Even at the end, where he could see to the far side of it, there was no such beasts. Plenty enough structures, carved by the hands of Men, with floors and pillars and a doorway on the far side that was impossible to reach, but nothing to suggest that a Colossus dwelled here, even though this place even matched the cryptic words Dormin had provided that the beast dwelled underground.

Khu croaked from his shoulder and took flight, gliding around the chamber to the far end as if deciding to be his eyes and his lure for the beast, but nothing else turned, and before long, the crow returned to perch on his shoulder where he pet it in appreciation.

He held the sword up, but the light did nothing to show him the way, too far from his reach. Unless he could reach the floor or the top of that pillar, but as he eyed the sides, he knew it would be impossible.

"So what's the plan?" Daijoudan questioned, likewise searching, his posture warily rigid. It was too quiet.

"Well if I could reach that light, I could tell you," Faulklin huffed, staring up at the m-arch in frustration, before his gaze glided over the walls to the sides of it. "But I can't reach it. These walls are man-made... too tall and smooth without purchase for even the most experienced climber. I might be able to if I could get down to the floor level, but I'm wary to go down there without knowing what might be waiting."

Daijoudan nodded his agreement as Faulklin looked for a way to get down. It was looking like the only path was a vertical climb down where the crumbled archway stood, a long row of ledges that led all the way down. They should be able to climb back up that way as well if nothing turned up.

Heading that way, he sheathed his sword and swung down the side, climbing down one precarious ledge at a time, Daijoudan following him. Faulklin was quicker, dropping down and catching each one with his hands, while Daijoudan was a little more reserved, stepping down and only letting his weight down when he was sure his footing was secure. There was a larger ledge that jutted out and allowed for some rest for their arms before they continued, though Faulklin didn't slow, and Daijoudan didn't allow him to go ahead alone either.

When they reached the bottom and dropped down, an earthen rumble made both of them tense, and the loud scraping of stone caused both males to whirl around as the same wall of ledges they had used to climb began to recede into the floor, rattling pieces of loose stone off to rain down in a thin wall of dust. As it fell away further, a humanoid Colossus closely akin to Valus stepped out, its legs flying over them without even seeing the two men.

"...I think I found the Colossus," Faulklin muttered sarcastically, back-pedaling against the wall so as not to be crushed underfoot by one of its great hooves.

"You're hilarious," Daijoudan returned, equally as sarcastic.

The Colossus walked forward several steps, but when it found no foe, it began to turn, both Faulklin and Daijoudan springing into action and running around its legs to avoid its sightline. A wall partly blocked their path further into the temple, but it was easy for them to scale, leaping off to the other side and hoping to buy some time to calculate their strategy.

They swivelled around as they reached the far arch's pillar, the Colossus turning to face them and its blue orbs piercing the darkness frighteningly as it lumbered towards them and the short wall.

It gave them all of three seconds before the Colossus' legs smashed straight through with no effort at all and forced them to keep running for the next one, scaling that wall just behind the large stone pillar. Just as they started to climb over, the Colossus already reached them and smashed through that one too, sending them both to the ground with the rubble in a short daze, only to scramble up as the beast came upon them with much more speed than the last four land-based Colossus had had.

They darted around the other side of the pillar back in the direction they came, only to circle fully around it as the Colossus pursued, almost matching pace, though it took more time and effort for it to turn to circle around the block.

Indeed, this one was neither fool nor slow.

They sprinted hard for the last wall and clamored over it, with Daijoudan up first and offering his hand to help pull the shorter male up quicker, just before the Colossus reached and smashed through that as well, the two diving through some pillars on the far side beneath a stone portico, not having the time to think of anything except running at this point and hiding.

"I feel like a rat, scurrying for cover," Faulklin lamented through panting breath, kneeling against the far wall of their hiding place out of the beast's sight range. "This is ridiculous!"

"Stop whining and figure something out," Daijoudan snapped under his breath. "Because our only escape slid into the floor. There won't be any running away from the fight this time, no matter if we want to or not."

It was true. The other fights, there had been the option of leaving the territory of the Colossus without fighting it. This time they were cornered, and the only way they were getting out was if they killed it, before it killed them. Even then, they might not have a route to escape out of, but they would certainly never locate an exit if they were forced to sprint for their lives.

"And you'd better think of it quick," the man added as the Colossus came to stop in front of their hiding place with a guttural grunt, the only part of its massive form that was visible being its lower legs and knees, and with no fur within reach to climb that either one could see, even on the back of its ankle as Valus had had.

The Colossus pitched forward and they prepared for it to smash into their hiding place too, ready to flee from an avalanche of stone, but instead it bent to one knee and braced a large hand against the ground, a long, dangling beard of fur appearing along with its head as it peered between the pillars on the far side and then scanned past every one, steadily coming towards spotting them.

"Now!" Daijoudan hissed, Faulklin leaping to his feet at the command and dashing forward.

The Colossus spotted him in surprise as the boy sprinted towards it instead of away and began to lift itself back up, but Faulklin reached it just in time to grab onto the end of its beard as it rose to full height. The swing of momentum as it did so, the beard swaying one side and then the other, allowed the short brunette to vault up to the fur just below its shoulder on the chest, climbing as quickly as he could manage.

With a reverberating growl, the large Colossus rolled its shoulders in an attempt to dislodge the miniscule pest, but Faulklin was getting used to the swaying movements of the giants as they had tried to dislodge him each time and held on tightly, not allowing himself to fall.

As Faulklin tried to reach the top of the Colossus' back and its head, Daijoudan drew his silver blade and sprinted from cover, slashing as the monster's leg in an attempt to both distract and wound, but it was like striking solid stone and he _tsk_ 'ed, running when he realized his attacks would do no good at all other than draw its attention.

The great behemoth turned to watch him run, but it didn't immediately pursue, its attention still fixed on Faulklin as the boy came close toward the jutting spine of stone that protruded from the center of its back. Daijoudan picked up a stone and hurled it, hitting it on one of the glaring eyes set within the Colossus' stone head and hearing a faint scratch like stone on glass. The beast finally paid him proper attention and began its pursuit, forcing Daijoudan to run as quickly as he could, but at least he didn't have to worry about climbing any more walls or being slowed down by them.

Faulklin took a brief rest on its shoulders, the Colossus occasionally twitching to throw him off, but failed each time. Finally he stood and ran to its head, throwing himself down and plunging his blade into the glyph there, the Colossus letting out a bellow like that of a bull. It planted its legs firmly and arched forward, ready to throw its head back, but when Faulklin stabbed it again, it faltered instead.

A jet of black, inky blood pelted his chest and his clothes, and Faulklin instinctively turned his head aside to avoid getting it in his eyes so that he could still see as the Colossus began to walk again, drawn by Daijoudan's loud, clear whistling, the sound echoing around the chamber. Daijoudan ran about the far edge of the wall, making himself a harder target to hit with the wall being in the beast's way, and it raised a leg to step on him, just as Faulklin stabbed it again and made it falter instead, crashing head-long into the wall and sending down a rain of debris.

Daijoudan swore foully as he found some distance and whirled around, his eyes searching, simply waiting for a small, broken body to crumple to the ground as the Colossus stepped away, but there was nothing. He didn't see Faulklin on its head or the ground, and he couldn't help but dread that maybe he was now imbedded in the crater left by the beast's skull, nothing more than a splatter that was as much a part of the wall as the rock said structure was constructed out of.

Then he saw a head of brown hair pop up from the other side of the Colossus' spine, balancing carefully on its quivering shoulders and dashing back to where the blade was still imbedded deeply into the Colossus' skull, making the beast groan in disoriented agony.

When Faulklin reached the site of the sword and glyph again, it was nearly impossible to dislodge the blade, the male having to twist and pull hard, making the Colossus stagger and moan, almost falling backwards as he finally loosed the sharp edge and the largest gush of black blood he had earned yet.

The beast raised a hand to try and smash the boy, but Daijoudan divided its attention as he swooped in and draw his white blade along with the silver one, striking its ankle in one direction, then the other in rapid succession.

Much to his surprise, where his silver sword had failed, and Faulklin's had during the fight with the Second Colossus, his white blade actually managed to cut the hide of the beast and earn a roar that might have been pain or simply anger. Nothing sprayed outward, but a black ooze dribbled from the slash and made the beast stagger slightly in what was likely more surprise than anything.

Faulklin glanced down in surprise of his own as he felt the entire beast jerk and turn its attention towards Daijoudan, who was running to a safe distance again.

"The Hell...?"

"My sword can cut its hide where there's no fur!" Daijoudan told him, sheathing his silver one since it was of little use to him in this fight, and instead gripping the white one with both hands.

That was actually surprising to Faulklin, but perhaps that meant the man would be useful to him after all. Between him attacking it from above and hitting its weak points, and Daijoudan slashing it where his own sword couldn't even scratch from below...

That gave him a rather wicked, genius idea.

"After I get my attack in and climb back to its shoulders, slash its leg again, as deep as you can!" Faulklin ordered.

Daijoudan nodded and they both prepared themselves as the Colossus began to recover, the youth stabbing the sword down again into another spot in its head, which earned yet one more bellow. Leaving it lodged there, just enough to stay, he ran to the edge of its face and swung down, hanging by its fur, and smeared some of the black blood over the beast's eyes to blind it. The creature howled alarm and shook its head to clear the haze over its eyes, and when he kicked it in the front of its stone face, it charged forward, crashing headlong into the stone again and lodging the blade in deep while Faulklin climbed to the safety of its mid-back.

The entire chamber rattled with the force of the Colossus' blow, and it was just then that Daijoudan swooped in, leaving a nice, long gash in the back of its leg. It staggered backward, forcing Daijoudan to retreat along the wall and the brunette to scramble to its head now as its shoulders came into contact with the m-arch's support. Faulklin dislodged his blade as the beast fell to its knees, and when it crashed forward into the ground, he was back on its shoulders again, clinging on for dear life.

He could still feel subtle movements in the Colossus' form, knowing that it was dazed, not dead, and that there were more vitals to locate and stab.

Now that he had it grounded and stunned, hopefully he would finish it now before it could recover. He ran across its back, and just above its hip on its back, another glyph sprang to life.

Before the beast could rouse, he dropped to his knees and stabbed the glyph with a vengeance, feeling the small mountain beneath him twitch and writhe. It took four good stabs, but that glyph vanished as well, though much to his displeasure, it wasn't the end of the Colossus, and it began to rise, quickly and with renewed vigor.

Faulklin tumbled down its back and the stone ledges that made up its lower body, hitting the ground and scrambling to his feet to get well out of its way as it stood. He needed to figure out where the last of the glyphs was, then attack it once more. Hopefully now, with it so much nearer to death, it would be slower and less trouble.

While it was turning to find him, he raised his sword in the light cast by the ceiling's hole above, finding it on the back of its left hand.

Before it could fully find its feet, he ran to its hand braced against the ground and leapt atop it, just before it became too far to reach, scrambling up.

The Colossus noticed him immediately and flicked its hand hard to throw him off, but Faulklin held on, waiting for it to still and then driving his blade into it. It howled rage but its eyes went not to Faulklin, but Daijoudan, as the man ran forward with his blade and leapt up at its leg, driving the white sword into its thick hide.

The beast staggered at the same moment it tried to flick Faulklin off, side-stepping, and balled its hand into a fist, punching the wall and trying to knock Faulklin off in the process, but the boy held on stubbornly even as the flat of the stone scraped his shoulder raw.

Daijoudan drew his blade out and leapt back, ready to attack again, but the Colossus' attention shifted quicker than he thought it would and the full bulk of its hoof crashed into him and send him flying several feet, hitting the ground hard and rolling several more where he lay dazed and breathless.

Faulklin cursed and drew his blade from the Giant's hand, but when he drove the blade in again, the Colossus smashed him against the wall and he felt something _crack_ , stealing the air from his lungs and almost causing him to lose his grip on the weapon and fur to fall. He barely held on, his consciousness fluttering, and the Colossus lifted its hand with a snarl of annoyance that he still clung to it.

Daijoudan finally managed to draw a harsh breath, the wind having been knocked from his chest, and dragging himself onto his elbows to watch as Faullklin scrambled for a foothold and drew the blade from the Colossus' hand, driving it in again. The beast twitched in rage and flicked him, but he still didn't let go, so as he drew the blade out again, he angled it to strike, only to be smacked into the wall again, so hard that Daijoudan could _hear_ his body hit stone and things break even from a distance.

He swore profusely and tried to stand, but his body didn't want to cooperate, still winded from the merciless kick from the giant, and when the Colossus' arm fell to its side again, he could see Faulklin still barely dangling there by one hand, limp like a rag doll and looking as though he wasn't even conscious. Hell, maybe not even _alive_.

But the brat moved. He twitched and weakly reached an arm up to grab the fur on the Colossus' hand, kicked his legs until he found purchase to heave himself up, and pull the blade out, gingerly touching the tip to the glyph on its hand, and every hair on the man's head stood up in horrified realization as he saw Faulklin's gleaming eye flutter open and the malicious, suicidal _grin_ that contoured his lips.

_Shit!_

He didn't care if his body didn't want to move, he forced it, staggering to his feet and sprinting, ignoring that he still couldn't quite breathe properly, but he wasn't anywhere near fast enough to keep it from slamming its hand into the wall again, a shattering roar escaping the beast as it staggered and the blue light of its eyes faded to black.

Daijoudan ran even faster as the giant pitched forward, its knees shattering perfectly lined stone as it collapsed, and then its chest cast a shadow over him. He barely avoided being crushed beneath its full weight as gravity slammed it into the ground, still felt the shockwave of its impact through his entire body, but ignored it as he raced towards Faulklin's still form where the kid lay unmoving.

He almost skidded on his knees as he came to step next to the boy, turning him over and feeling for a pulse or a breath. It was shallow, but a faint gust wafted from his blood-stained lips, and his chest still rose and fell, though it was strained. He tried to figure out just how much had been done. His head seemed safe from any indents or breaks where he had thought it might be crushed against the wall, so that was good, but he could tell immediately that there were at least a couple of ribs that were not only fractured, but snapped clean.

"You fucking idiot," he hissed, gritting his teeth. A dislocated limb, he could mend. He might even be able to re-set the ribs, but those would take weeks to heal, and the trace of blood that he'd coughed up alone promised internal bleeding, though how bad, he couldn't be sure. It might not be lethal, but Faulklin wouldn't be moving around much any time soon. "How the Hell do you plan to finish what you began when you pull stunts like this?"

He didn't get his answer, since even if Faulklin would awaken on his own, the shadows from the Colossus' corpse found the boy and disappeared into his body again, pitching him into an almost coma-like state. Daijoudan snarled under his breath, uttering various complaints, but there was nothing to be done for it now. They needed to figure out how to get out of this damn pit, since it wouldn't matter if they'd survived the fight or not otherwise.


	10. The Leviathan in the Deep

When Faulklin's awareness returned, it was accompanied with a scream of unadulterated pain and they were still within the vicinity of the 6th Colossus - _Barba_ 's - lair. It was shortly after waking that he realized Daijoudan was kneeling over him and his sudden yell had startled the man, making him withdraw a hand in surprise from trying to align his ribs properly.

The younger boy spit and cursed at him banefully, but Daijoudan only snapped at him to shut up and try to stay still while he tried to right the damage that the boy had caused himself in his idiotic bid for victory. It was _excruciating_ , but the adolescent endured it through to the end. The pain didn't stop when Daijoudan was finished, and Faulklin could distinctly taste blood, but he refused to let the older man talk him into giving up his quest due to his injuries.

Utterly _refused_.

Even under threat that Daijoudan would knock him out again, but Faulklin wasn't so slow that he couldn't figure out it was an empty threat. Daijoudan wouldn't make his injuries any worse than they already were, not when they were _this_ bad, no matter how annoyed or how much the other male hated him.

It was a long, tiring argument later that Faulklin managed to whittle away Daijoudan's patience too much to give a damn about trying to stop him and they found themselves riding back for the Shrine at the center of the forbidden lands, though all that Faulklin could manage to tolerate was a soft canter, rather than a full gallop, his wounds aching too much to endure anything more than that for now.

They rode up to the forest in silence and slowed to a walk as they reached the cave because even that was becoming too much for the brunette. Daijoudan had no complaints with slowing their pace and even suggested they stop entirely. To their right was a grassy, open glen and a wide but shallow lagoon that would have been a perfect place to take rest, but Faulklin would have none of it, and the older male didn't feel like arguing with the human equivalent of a brick wall.

So they pressed on through the forest beyond, and the only cooperation Daijoudan managed to earn out of his unpleasant companion was to eat some of the fruit that he offered as they went, since they were taking far longer this time to return anyway.

Their trek back was long and slow-going, and Faulklin couldn't help but stretch forward and rest his head against Rebel's neck, letting his consciousness drift in and out. Even Daijoudan took the time on horseback to rest as much as he could, trusting Ayametsuki to get him to his proper destination in due time. The steady, smooth gait of the mare and sun on his back as they came out of the forest and into open fields was soothing, and he was in no rush to return only to go rushing off into another battle.

Hopefully, neither would Faulklin, because annoyance and exhaustion aside, he didn't think the kid would survive another fight. He had no intention of picking up where Faulklin left off, and no desire to take part in escorting a child just shy of twenty years toward his death, even if Faulklin had no problems with it. The horses occasionally paused to nibble a few patches of tantalizing grass, but otherwise they marched on uninterrupted.

When they reached the Shrine's interior, another one of the statues had already crumbled and Dormin's voice immediately peeled down from the sky.

_**"Thy next foe is... A ruin hidden in the lake... A ripple of thunder lurks underwater."** _

Faulklin couldn't help but groan, burying his face against Rebel's nape. "Why does it have to be another lake?"

Daijoudan only hummed. "If you have a problem with it, we should rest anyways. You won't be able to fight for a while with those injuries."

Predictably enough, Faulklin didn't listen, only turning Rebel back towards the outside and nudging the stallion into a walk. Daijoudan sighed, but decided it probably best that he didn't leave the kid alone as he went. At the very least, it appeared as if he couldn't manage to tolerate more than a walk out of his horse, and the dark animal seemed to sense its masters physical distress and moved with care, so it would take them some time to reach the next one. It would be best if they stayed where they were, but resting on horseback on the way to the next area was an option as well. Less ideal, but still an option.

The light of the sword took them across the sea behind the Shrine over the natural bridge and retracing their way back to the arena of the 3rd Colossus, though if it had a name like the others, he hadn't heard Faulklin utter it. It was just as slow as their return to the Shrine had been, but Daijoudan had no desire to speed to the next Colossus territory and Faulklin was too battered to be impatient for once, simple resting atop Rebel's back in a state of pained half-awareness. Probably for the better, anyway.

When they finally reached the lake of the third Colossus, half a day must have gone by with their sluggish speed, and the shadows prevented them from following the sword further. They wondered if the other Colossus might be underneath the water of this area instead of on top, but somehow Daijoudan doubted it and Faulklin hadn't the energy to dispute it.

Instead, Daijoudan hopped off his horse and took the sacred sword, climbing to the top of the spiral path across the lake while Faulklin waited with his and Daijoudan's horses, bent over the saddle tiredly and trying not to let his ribs or ruptured insides bother him too much. When Daijoudan returned, he sheathed the blade back at Faulklin's side and jumped onto Ayametsuki's back, gathering up the reigns.

"Further down the ravine continues. It's somewhere northwest of here beyond that, probably at the end of it."

Faulklin merely nodded mutely and let Daijoudan lead. Just as he said, the ravine continued, and they followed the linear path straight for quite a ways. It intercepted with another branch of the ravine to their left, but they continued straight. Finally, a fork in two different directions forced them to choose, and they headed right. At another fork, they paused, trying to discern whether to go left, further into the mountains, or right to what was clearly a more open expanse.

Ultimately, they chose to head to the right again, where sunlight finally reached them and Faulklin was able to hold up his sword to point their direction.

As luck would have it, they were right where they needed to be, and they soon found the ruin they were searching for, short walls dividing them from the expanse of a deep lake below just beyond carved pillars and shallow stone steps, a bridge extending out high above the water.

Faulklin pulled his horse to a stop near the end where the bridge crumbled away, looking more alert now than he had the entire ride there, and Daijoudan followed his eye towards three dancing spots of light that flickered just beneath the depths of the water far below.

"What the Hell is that?"

"The Colossus," Daijoudan guessed. "Most likely."

Faulklin nodded, but he was still baffled. The light moved in angry flickers, like branches or writhing snakes, and it brought to mind bolts of lightning he had seen sometimes in the sky. Then he remembered Dormin's words, something about thunder, and he couldn't help but frown.

He and Daijoudan slid from their saddles and walked to the edge of the bridge, kneeling down to get a good look from a safe distance. Obviously the same problem weighed on their minds as they surveyed what they would have to work with and tried to assess how they were going to handle this fight.

"Your plan?"

"I'm thinking on it," Faulklin huffed. This time he had not just one problem, but two. He still hadn't the slightest idea of how to swim, and once he entered the water, he didn't imagine he'd get the time to learn. He was also still injured, and that was going to make him more ineffective. He needed to be more careful now than ever in how he approached this particular fight.

His eye trailed further, taking note of the spiraling structure just beyond the bridge, which they would have to leap to, but it wasn't too far off, and it continued upwards. He decided the best thing to do was to leap across - which he did, grunting and almost doubling over as he landed with how his body protested - and walk to the top where he could get a better vantage point.

At the top, he quickly discerned that there wasn't much in the way of structures to use, other than the bridge they had just come across and the spiral-path tower they were on now. It looked like there was a segment of bridge below that had long ago crumbled and sunk, with only a small, circular platform and the narrowed edges of the path still in-tact and partially submerged at a tilt. Beyond that was another segment of bridge, still rising proudly far above the water, but disconnected from any other structures and impossible to reach.

Suffice to say, there were little options for this fight for someone that couldn't swim, and Faulklin still wasn't sure what sort of Colossus they were dealing with. So far, three had been semi-humanoid, one a bull, another a bird, and the last out of those being a horse. He could tell, looking at the lights and their positioning and the subtle movements he could see, this one was probably serpent in form, yet no less large than any previous. If not in width, then _definitely_ in length. The spacing of the furthest lights alone appeared to be about as long as Avion had been from beak-to-tail and at least as wide discounting the 5th's wings.

Peering over the edge, he noted that the spiral led all the way down to the water, so reaching that or climbing back out shouldn't be difficult. Now they just had to lure the Colossus out from hiding.

Straightening up, he walked down the path to reunite with Daijoudan further down.

"Alright, kind of the same as with Avion... you lure it out from the water, and try to get it to come close to the structure. I'll figure out how to finish it off from there." Daijoudan didn't look happy, but he didn't argue, Faulklin raising a brow at him imploringly. The older of the two could tell that Faulklin wasn't any happier about having to ask for help, but the lad was smart enough not to refuse it at the moment either. "Ready to play fish bait? You came to help me, after all, so make yourself useful."

"Just don't screw up," Daijoudan told him, undoing his hair tie for a moment and tying his long hair almost into a bun, so it would be well out of his way in the water, and making sure his swords were tightly secured to his belt, before he waded in, pushing off the stone to further out.

Faulklin was watching the dancing lights carefully and saw them begin to grow closer, moving more purposefully now rather than merely drifting along at a lazy pace. The longer he stared, the more he also noticed a blue glow that he could only guess was an eye, and confirmed as it began to come to the surface that it was indeed a serpent of some sort, its back lined in three spines that emitted those crackling lights and trailed dead plant matter caught around them. A long, paddle-like tail emerged from the depths as it dove and circled around again, and Faulklin thought he saw a glimpse of fur there, but he couldn't be entirely certain.

After a moment, he saw its entire body illuminated by a bright light as it slipped through the lake far below, giving a clear indication to its full size, proving itself twice as long as Avian had been and a little wider in body, long whiskers like that of a catfish trailing from its snout. The Colossus vocalized an odd, guttural growl muffled by the water, like the moan of a whale.

Faulklin spotted that radiant blue light become reddish beneath the waves and its head begin to ascend towards Daijoudan.

"Here it comes," Faulklin warned, getting ready himself for whatever it was going to do and calculating what he needed to do in response as well. He could hear the crackling noise of those lights as it drew closer and Daijoudan, wary of them, wisely swam away from those spines as the head of the beast dipped beneath him.

The first spine passed underneath the water harmlessly, but as the second spine came up where Daijoudan used to be, the surface of the lake rippled with electricity, covering a broad range that would have lit the man up like a Christmas tree had he not moved. The third spine surfaced with the same effect before disappearing beneath the waves.

Finally, they passed, and Faulklin saw its tail arch up toward the surface, preparing and then throwing himself forward just before it rose out of the water, grabbing onto the fur there just before it dove and not hearing Daijoudan shout at him, save for an unrecognizable garble that the waves swallowed as water filled his ears and blinding him.

The Colossus pulled him along like an underwater speeding locomotive and within mere seconds, the pressure made his ears pop painfully in his head and his lungs constrict from the pressure, quickly pulling him a good twenty feet deep in an instant. His wounds panged fiercely and almost made the adolescent gasp, but he stubbornly held his breath, trying to crack his single eye open. His vision was met with a hazy, deep brown mass of waving fur that was growing lighter in shades as the Colossus rose from the deep to breach the lake's surface once more.

Open air came _almost_ within reach, and Faulklin tilted his head up to hopefully snatch a mouthful of air, but its large oar of a tail pulled him down again as it propelled itself forward, making him grunt in vain protest, his chest feeling as if it would burst from the forced current of the Colossus' movement alone.

Just as he thought he couldn't take any more, its tail arched out of the water and he drew in a sharp gasp of air, and another. It dove again before he could move forward, and as a row of short, round spines illuminated its body, he feared he might be electrocuted, but no shock came.

The second time it surfaced, he drew in a quick gasp and then stood, stumbling forward along its back as quickly and steadily as his legs would carry him, kneeling down to grab onto its fur as it slithered beneath the churning waves once again. It dove another time just before he could reach the first spine, and he worried once more that he might be in for a nasty sensation, but the electrical current that he could _hear_ crackle from one of those tall, orange spines didn't reach. He knew though that if it dove again and he drew closer, it would definitely hurt him.

His sword pulsed in its sheath, and he could see a teal-black fissure just behind one of the spines. He wasn't sure what sort of effect stabbing it would have, but there was only one way to find out, and he prepared himself as it dove and surfaced again, turning its head and bellowing displeasure to find Faulklin hitching a ride.

When they were well clear of the water, he ran forward. The fur transitioned there from brown into a rusty orange, and as soon as Faulklin's feet touched that segment, he could feel an unpleasant tingle that traveled up his legs, making his muscles tighten and breath seize, every hair on his body standing up involuntarily from the sensation.

He knew then and there that he had to avoid getting pulled underwater where the effect would only become that much worse and plunged the sword down deeply into the crack, felt the entire Colossus twitch and writhe in pain, changing directions, and the light of the farthest-back spine died to leave it nothing but a black, harmless protrusion. A fountain of black gushed skyward, then became a thick, inky cloud as the Colossus dunked him again, but that nerve-tingling feeling dissipated away like a bad dream.

One down, two to go.

He waited for the Colossus to submerge itself once more, lightning crackling around the second spine, before he rushed towards it and ran his blade into this crack as well, making the middle spine lose its light and power now too, getting an unpleasant spray of black blood in the face and furiously wiping it away as it stung his skin, but the water washed it away well enough.

So far he hadn't seen a single major glyph, only those cracks, but with any luck, one of them would be just ahead. All he had to do was finish off the last of those lightning-infused spines, hope that they wouldn't regenerate, and then find the major sigils.

He jumped up and ran for the last one, raising his blade as he fell to his knees and grasped its fur, so as not to be dragged off by the water with no grip as it dove back underneath, but it went under quicker than he expected, this time straight down instead of forward, and he instantly felt the current of deadly electricity course through him, its power exemplified ten fold by the water, and water flooded his airways as he screamed agony.

* * *

As soon as the Colossus came at him, Daijoudan moved aside towards the half-submerged bridge segment. He didn't like the sound of that crackle nor the way the lights on its body flickered like underwater lightning. He had seen what lightning could do to a tree before. He didn't want to even begin to consider what it could do to a human body.

Just as he hauled himself clear of the water and spun around, he saw Faulklin leap off the spiral path and onto the Colossus' tail, getting dragged under too fast for him to do anything except shout in exasperation at just how blatantly _idiotic_ the brat continually strived to prove himself to be.

All he could do was watch as the Colossus dove a couple stories deep, too deep too quickly for any person to be able to stand without suffering, and he grit his teeth as he waited to see if Faulklin would emerge with the Colossus or if the little fool had been swallowed with the depths and drown. He saw the Colossus' head come up with one spine, then the others, but not its tail at first.

Then at last, he saw it, its massive rudder barely breaching the surface with Faulklin still holding on, only to disappear again. When its tail breached open air a second time, the scrawny idiot began to make his way forward, crouching down to hold on each time it bobbed underwater, before he made it to the first spine and stabbed just behind it, and the electrical fin went dark, much to Daijoudan's surprise. Then the second one soon went out with another stab.

He saw Faulklin go for the third, but he could already tell before Faulklin noticed that it was a mistake, yelling a warning, but if Faulklin heard it at all, the boy ignored it, and the Colossus arched straight down towards the bottom, entirely engulfing the teen in a mass of crackling, deadly light.

Daijoudan cursed and jumped off the structure as he barely saw a pale face come up without breath, then vanish again, sinking beneath the murky, deep blue.

He dove underneath the water and swam hard, silently swearing as he saw Faulklin sinking deeper, not struggling at all. Daijoudan had to struggle to reach the depths that he was falling to by the time he reached the same place, clawing through the water to grab him and finally managing to grasp the boy's wrist, kicking back towards the surface. Even underwater, he heard the Colossus moan a low, reverberating roar, but he focused on getting air first, gasping as he broke the surface of the water.

After three good breaths, he swiveled around and saw the bulk of the Colossus' head coming straight up, and he quickly pedaled back and heaved Faulklin away from its last crackling spine. He paused just long enough to hold a hand against the boy's lips, which dribbled blood diluted by the lake water, and felt no breath from him, growling low in his throat in fury.

He turned and swam as best he could towing the petite male along, having to avoid the Colossus' attempts at finishing them off three times before he was able to reach the stone structures and pull them both out of the water to safety, soaking wet and only one of them technically alive. The Colossus gave an angry groan of its own and dove between the legs of the structure with an audible splash and a smack of its tail that sent a drizzle down upon them, but Daijoudan ignored it. So long as it couldn't reach them, he needn't worry.

Only sparing a second or two to recover himself, he laid Faulklin out supine and bent his ear to the boy's chest, hoping that he had merely drawn conclusions too quickly, but there were no signs of life and he breathed out harshly. With Faulklin's ribs broken from the last fight, resuscitation was going to bring back as many problems as it was going to solve, but there wasn't much other choice other than to leave him dead without even trying to revive him, and he wasn't willing to allow that, even if Faulklin was the largest pain in the ass he had ever known or probably ever would.

Pressing his hands to the boy's chest, he began compressions, silently counting each one in his head before giving a breath, tasting far too much blood, but he ignored it and kept going, silently wondering to himself as he did so if he was just wasting his time.

He was finally awarded with a spluttering cough of both water and blood mixed, and he rolled the boy over onto his side so that Faulklin could clear his lungs. The Colossus gave another moan of anger and impatience, and Daijoudan felt the entire structure of the crumbled bridge rattle as it brushed its body against it below, but the ruin held despite the monster's efforts and Daijoudan spared it little attention.

Faulklin coughed and rolled onto his arms to push himself up, bent over and coughing roughly, before coughing turned into heaving, vomiting what looked like a slosh of coffee grounds and dark red blood, causing Daijoudan's brows to knit in baffled scrutiny. Faulklin slowly lifted his head with a slight lolling motion, looking up at Daijoudan, but his single eye was glassy and his lips and chin coated in red and pink, and after a moment his eye rolled into his head and the boy slumped again. Daijoudan caught him before he hit the ground and laid the boy carefully on his side, feeling his pulse and his breath, finding it thankfully still there.

If he was in no condition to fight before, though, now he was in no condition to even _move_. He wouldn't be finishing this battle.

The Colossus however either didn't notice or didn't care, moaning again demandingly and butting up against the supports of the bridge segment, harder this time.

Daijoudan scowled and turned his attention to the sacred sword. Even after all that, Faulklin still hadn't let go of the damn thing. The man dreaded the idea of killing off the Colossus, especially since it wasn't a task he had agreed to and still held his suspicions about, but it wasn't looking like there was much choice. So, he pried the blade out of Faulklin's hand and left the boy there on the safety of the ruin, while he stood on the edge and shone the blade to find out where its weak points were.

His annoyance lessened a degree when he found that the only place it pointed was the Colossus' head and nowhere else, but he was under no delusion that it would be easy.

First he had to contend with that other electrical spine.

He leapt into the water and waited for the Colossus to come to him, and when it did, he dodged away from the first spine and didn't worry himself with the other two that had gone dark, grabbing onto its tail as he had seen Faulklin do as it came up.

The force of the water resistance was even worse than the wind had been atop the bird Colossus two fights prior, but he managed to hold both his breath and his grip until it surfaced once again. In all of a few seconds, he could already feel the raw power that coursed through the Leviathan, even now that the two rear spines were rendered powerless. One jolt of that energy would be enough to stop anyone's heart in their tracks and potentially fry their innards to pulp, and he once again found himself cursing Faulklin's heedlessness as he recalled the dark, bloody mush the boy's body had expelled.

Running down the length of the Colossus' body was comparatively easy, but he could feel the energy of that first spine as he drew close, being much more wary than Faulklin had. If he wasn't quick enough, he just might end up dead, just as Faulklin almost had and potentially still might. He would have to be quick and precise.

He waited for the exact second when the Colossus dove and rose again, then sprinted forward, bringing the blade down with all his speed and might so that the last one finally went dark. Just on the other side, the top of the Colossus' head, a glyph sprang to life in the presence of the sword. The Colossus bemoaned the loss of its electrical defenses and dunked Daijoudan underwater as he lunged at the last glyph, dragging the man down and then up as it threw its head out of the water, then back down, making him take in a mouthful of water and sputter as he came back up, but Daijoudan still didn't waste the chance to drive the blade down.

Once. Twice. Three times. He paused to shake the water out of his eyes as he came up sopping wet, but it was entirely wasted as the Colossus dipped its head down again, making Daijoudan squint his eyes shut and hold his breath. Four times. Five was the final strike, and the Colossus keened as it threw its head out of the water and writhed back and forth, creating small tidal waves and sending white foam into the air to sprinkle down like rain.

Its body began to sink first, then its head slipped under, and Daijoudan let go, paddling on the surface as he watched its shadows form become overtaken by a black veil. He swore softly and began to swim back towards the structure as quickly as he could, though he wasn't fast enough to reach it before those tendrils of darkness spiraled out of the beast and into the air. He half expected they might go into him, since he had slain the Colossus this time and held the sword, but they went for Faulklin again and disappeared inside him.

When Daijoudan reached the ruin and ran to Faulklin's side, he checked for signs of life, and found Faulklin still breathing. Weakly, but still breathing.

He sighed and relaxed, only slightly, sliding the sacred sword back into its scabbard at Faulklin's side and carefully picking the smaller boy up. One more Colossus down, and nothing else to be done except carry Faulklin out of this Gods forsaken place.


	11. Pacing for the Weary

Irritating was only one - very generous, in his opinion - word to describe the task of climbing out of the lake.

Upon reaching the spiral tower again, Daijoudan walked up until he was level with the crumbling bridge that led back to dry land, holding Faulklin's arms around his neck as he carried the unconscious kid on his back. He felt and heard Faulklin choke a cough against him as the man landed, bringing with it a few beads of crimson that dribbled from the corner of his lips, but there wasn't much to be done for it now until they could get back out of this place.

He considered the use of his white blade, but a little voice whispered in his head against that, and he knew better than to ignore it, especially now when there was calm and peace, no immediate rush to get out of the way of danger. Besides, this was a course the boy had chosen for himself. That included all of the consequences which came with the task.

He heard the clack of claws above him and an irritating croak, glancing up to see that tame crow of Faulklin's peering down at him from a higher ledge on the spiral, the bird having disappeared at some point during their trip there.

It had a tendency to do that, follow the boy for a while and then disappear to Gods only knew where, probably scavenging for food.

It puffed its feathers at him and cawed angrily, but he ignored it, up until the corvid took a dive at his head as he was climbing up the moss clinging to the bridge. He only growled, swatted at it, and continued higher. Both horses waited just at the edge of the bridge anxiously for the return of their masters and Daijoudan had to motion them back.

Rebel sidled towards him and nosed Faulklin lightly with a worried nicker, but he didn't deposit Faulklin onto the stallion's saddle this time, settling him on Ayametsuki before he climbed up himself. He didn't want the stupid, undersized savage to end up falling from his horse and add "head trauma" to his increasingly growing list of injuries.

Rebel snorted at him in protest, but he only rolled his eyes and guided Ayametsuki back to land, trusting that the dark brown Friesian-Shire cross would follow of its own accord. Neither it nor the bird ever wandered too far from the boy, as far as he had seen. Faulklin was _terrible_ with people. Anyone who had spent even ten minutes around him would know that. Animals seemed to like him though, and he was likewise drawn to them, so it was no surprise. Even less surprising was that the horse he chose to ride was equally as volatile and disliked most people. The crow wasn't so much a pet as a rescue that had become acclimated and bonded to him, but with everyone else, it was still wild. They made somewhat of an odd yet perfect trio.

They made it off the bridge and onto dry, cracked soil that had likely once been moist long ago, but time had evaporated all that might have been there. Coming back to the wide stairs just before it and passing a few thick, stone columns, Daijoudan squinted into the distance. Not terribly far was a small, stone shrine. Even further, he could make out the Great Bridge into these lands, its legs towering high and proud a good hundred or more feet straight up. He didn't want to bother with winding his way through the canyon again, so he decided they would just cross the desert toward the bridge, then make their way to the Shrine from there, nudging Ayametsuki into a walk.

In the distance, he could make out pillars of light, almost seeming to cluster from their current position, except for one that was further off to the side. Then he glanced back and up, noting as he did so that there was one behind them now, a beacon to the resting place of the 7th, growing brighter the further they moved away from it, whereas before he hadn't seen it at all. Once again, he couldn't help but think of how strange and supernatural everything here was.

He swiveled back around in his saddle and glanced down at Faulklin, who was lying limp as a ragdoll against him, his expression pained even in unconsciousness. If not for the rise and fall of his sides, albeit shallow and labored, Daijoudan might have thought him already dead. At this point it was an uncertainty whether or not he would end up that way before they could even make it back. He might be lucky just to wake up at all, with how much blood the boy had spit up, and that was probably only a fraction of how much he was really bleeding on the inside.

Daijoudan sighed, deeply and audibly. He hadn't signed up for this just to watch some half-wit punk destroy himself so selfishly for something that probably wasn't even possible. Even if his intent was to do this for someone else's sake, it was selfish. The dead were meant to be left in peace, and did the kid really think that what Mamoru would have wanted was to lose two people thanks to his clan's morbid traditions? It was a suicide mission, plain and simple. He knew that, and he knew that Faulklin had known when he'd agreed to it as well. Talking him out of anything once he set his mind on a goal was damn near impossible. It had taken Mamoru a full year of seeing and experiencing the boy at his very worst for the deviant to even begin to trust or extend much of any amount of cooperation. Mamoru was really still the only one who could garner it out of the boy, too, and it still took an endless amount of patience on the man's part.

Outside of his two animals and Mamoru, Faulklin really didn't trust anyone. Mamoru had told Komeko, and in turn, Komeko had told _him_ , that it wasn't simply a voluntary choice. That Faulklin was incapable of putting his faith in people, for one reason or another. No one but the boy himself and Mamoru knew the full extent of _why_ , but it wasn't entirely impossible to guess. The loss of one of his eyes and scar on his face alone gave hint, as did the way the kid neglected to take care of even his own basic needs like eating and how he skittishly avoided most human contact like a domesticated cat that had gone feral.

And no one jumped headlong into danger so readily, perpetually taunting the embrace of death like it was a petty game of Chicken, who hadn't been through enough Hell that such a fate probably seemed more of a relief than a tragedy.

More than once, the extent of Faulklin's self-destructive tendencies had managed to churn his stomach, and he was not an easy man to make ill. He couldn't even begin to fathom the daily stress Mamoru must have had to endure for the last three years, always needing to be vigilant for when Faulklin might relapse and afraid that one of those times he might be just slightly too late. It wasn't so much that the boy went out of his way to find a way to kill himself - not anymore, at least - but when the opportunity presented itself, he wasn't one to resist it and fight explicitly for survival either.

That was what worried Daijoudan about this quest most.

It wasn't that Faulklin didn't know the possible consequences of his actions, whether it meant he died in the attempt, or what might happen to him in the afterlife, once Dormin got what he wanted out of the boy. It was that he flat out _didn't care_.

Someone who was simply ignorant could be reasoned with. Someone who knew the full implications and spat in the face of that danger was whole other world apart.

At this point, it might not matter. There was no telling just how quickly Emon and his men would be on their trail. He glanced skyward as they passed the cracked land that had probably been a marshland at one point and into orange sand, the shadow of the mountains falling over them, rather than the heat of the sky. How long had they been here? It was impossible to tell. The sun had yet to move - he assumed it to be the sun, anyway - despite that they had traveled a great distance between the Colossi territories, and the time it had taken to fight the Colossus themselves.

It had to have been days, at _least_. Yet the light in the sky never died. Was it even the sun? He didn't imagine this Dormin being had the power to hold it stationary. Even the three primary Gods of his family line, the In-you-ko dragons, didn't possess the power to hold the sun from moving. Perhaps it was something else, but he couldn't place what.

However long had passed, it hardly mattered. With Faulklin's injuries, _if_ the brunette survived, he would take a long time to heal. Weeks, certainly. They didn't have that kind of time to doddle. Emon would reach them long before then and put a stop to this, and Daijoudan didn't intend on finishing the task for the stubborn boy. He knew better than to strike such a deal when he didn't fully know what this Dormin thing was capable of or what it wanted.

Their path sloped downward, the sand making up small valleys and rising dunes. The bridge was lost to sight, but he knew they were still heading the right way, so he didn't bother himself with rushing to get the great bridge back into view.

Faulklin groaned softly against him and coughed, red once again faintly staining his lips, and the boy's single eye fluttered halfway open, blinking dazedly. He looked ahead with puzzlement etching his features before looking up at Daijoudan, who only frowned at him passively.

"...the Hell...?" he rasped, another weak cough interrupting his words, the boy hissing and scrunching his eyes in pain, sinking back against Daijoudan involuntarily. Daijoudan already knew what the boy wanted to ask before he voiced it.

"You're too injured to ride on your own." A fact that the man was equally if not more so peeved about. He took no pleasure at all with having to share his seat with the kid, and already predicted accurately that Faulklin would give him no gratitude for the act of consideration at all.

"Let me down."

"Not a chance."

Faulklin tried to sit up further and wheezed in anguish, not making it very far.

"See?" Daijoudan at least had the sense not to sound smug about it, letting his tone fall flat and matter-of-fact instead.

"Are we going... back to the Shrine?"

"No." Daijoudan caught the look that Faulklin gave him, but looked forward instead as they crested the top of a dune, the Great Bridge coming into sight again. "Not yet. We're going to find somewhere to take a rest first, whether you want to or not."

"I can't stop," Faulklin gasped.

"And you can't keep going, either. You can't even sit up properly, but you think you can take on another one of those Colossus?" Faulklin didn't answer, and he took it as the closest thing he was going to get to an admission of defeat. They trudged onward slowly, Daijoudan being mindful not to push Ayametsuki into anything faster since it might jar Faulklin's wounds further.

Over another dune where the sun finally reached them, he could see a tree not far off, deciding they would rest there. Beyond that, he could see a gaping hole like a canyon beneath the legs of the bridge, and far beyond that, the silhouette of several pillars in a row, too perfect to be natural. It was probably another Colossus lair, but he didn't think Faulklin noticed it right now - thank the Gods for that.

He was even happier to find that there was a pond next to the tree, only a small one, but a pond none the less, and patches of grass that the horses could feed off of. This would be a good place to stop for rest. Both they and their horses could drink and eat. They could lay in the sun and warm themselves as they rested, and if the heat proved too much, they could shelter in the shade of the tree. If the sun stayed as still as it had the past many hours or days that should have come and gone as well, they wouldn't need to worry about moving with the angle of the shadows.

He slid down from the saddle and pulled Faulklin down, the brunette surprisingly docile, but he could only guess that it was because Faulklin was too wounded to have the energy to extend towards being combative. He set the boy down against the trunk of the tree where he could sit up and then went to Ayametsuki's saddlebags, retrieving the leftover fruit from near the bird's territory, dropping some of it for the horses and the rest for himself and Faulklin. As luck would have it, the trees here bore fruit as well, though not nearly as much as the last one had.

They both ate in silence and Daijoudan consider himself incredibly lucky that Faulklin fell asleep, too battered and exhausted to stay conscious for any great length of time while his body tried to cope and heal from the seven taxing battles. They were almost at the halfway point now, but the end of this journey, if they would ever see it at all, still felt such a long way off.

Seven down, nine more to go.

Whether they really did finish this or not, he would admit that what Faulklin had done so far was more than impressive. Were he to admit with all honesty, he was somewhat shocked the kid hadn't ended up dead already by the third or fourth fight. Equally as impressive was that the boy hadn't lost his nerve and turned tail during any of them, but then again, Faulklin was a tenacious idiot-and-a-half.

He was starting to wonder if the only reason he'd even followed Faulklin was because of morbid curiosity, even though he fully knew his reasons better than that, even if Faulklin hadn't the slightest clue why he was here helping and actually looking out for the little bastard's well-being, even if it was only sparingly so.

As if somehow reading his mind, Faulklin stirred and blinked at him sluggishly, still looking worn-down and defeated, but the silverette knew it was only going to be a fleeting state of being.

"Why are you even here?"

Daijoudan stared sidelong at him for a moment before turning his gaze heavenward, reclining back comfortably. It was nice to finally have a breather after they had taken down nearly half of the great beasts without much pause between.

"Why do you think?"

Faulklin snorted condescension. "As if anyone could get into a mind that doesn't exist."

Again with the intellect insults. And not very good ones this time either. Faulklin was definitely not in any condition to go into another fight any time soon. "Excuse me for mistaking you for someone with any smarts. I forgot you have about as much brains as this desert probably sees rain."

"I'd kick you in the teeth for that but I'd hate to improve your looks," Faulklin rebuked. His comebacks were still weak, but Daijoudan felt no need to curtail his own insults to make it fair.

"First you'd have to be able to reach my teeth, short-stack."

"You really have to stoop to using short jokes again?"

"Why not? I couldn't possibly stoop any lower than your height, and if your list of insults is equally as small, anything you try against me in a battle of wit won't be much of a battle at all."

Faulklin narrowed his eye. "Being short is natural. Being stupid is not." He paused for a moment, before adding, "Except in your case. And there is no battle of wits because I never pick on an unarmed man. Now answer my damn question."

Daijoudan only snorted and smirked, making Faulklin want to wipe that smug look right off his face. Turns out he didn't have to as it disappeared on its own, Daijoudan sobering from the satisfaction of their never ending war of insults.

"During the treaty negotiations, one of the terms was to be rid of human sacrifices entirely, but they took it as a violation of their religious rights." He paused and sighed, looking like he was deflating where he lay, his monochromatic silver eyes carefully guarded in a way that Faulklin recognized as shielding his emotions from view, schooling his expression so that it was unreadable. "I refused to let the matter rest, and they refused to sign the treaty under those conditions, so I'm guessing that in sacrificing her, they were trying to spite me."

"Their sacrifices are because they believe it will bring them some sort of blessing," Faulklin corrected. Daijoudan angled a brow at him.

"You don't really believe that."

Faulklin huffed admission. "No, I don't." In a lot of ways, he was ignorant, but he knew human nature too well to buy into such garbage. Daijoudan was no stranger to the real purpose behind it either. "They do it for control."

Daijoudan nodded both approval and agreement, turning his gaze towards the clouds again and resting his arms behind his head. "It's a manipulation. The only reason she died was so that Emon could thumb his nose at me and the Sanryuu Empire. Saying that its to please the Gods is a head-fake used out of desperation." He sighed again, this time through his nose. "The problem is that he's both a religious and political leader to his people, and they buy into it."

Faulklin hummed, before speaking again softly. "That still doesn't answer my question."

Daijoudan didn't even look at him, focused on the clouds above as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.

"I'm outmaneuvering his ploy," he answered finally. Faulklin raised his brows.

"Come again?"

"His actions were entirely political. I told him that the terms of the treaty were to end human sacrifices, so the first thing he does is commit one as an act of refusal," he explained simply. "If we bring her back from the dead, it undoes his intended effect entirely."

Faulklin's brows rose higher. "So this is just some fucking bureaucratic game to you?" Omission was the man's answer, and Faulklin couldn't help but scoff a disbelieving laugh. "Are you fucking serious? You came all this way over one dead girl to play _politics_? And I'm just some damn pawn in your game?"

"It was your idea to bring her back."

Faulklin shook his head in amazement. "And you have the nerve to criticize _me_. Of all the fucking-..." He rested his head back against the tree, staring up through the branches. He snorted and shook his head again. "Everyone has the right to be stupid, but you're really abusing the privilege."

"Look whose talking," Daijoudan shot back.

"That's exactly the problem. If I have to be the one to tell you what an idiotic idea it is, then you have to know its fucking stupid as all Hell."

Was that actually an admission wrapped in amongst his insult?

"And it'll be a cold day in it before I ever take the advice of someone who keeps digging down after he's hit rock bottom."

Faulklin laughed sardonically. "Well the one perk to digging down that deep is I never have to worry about you being beneath my contempt."

"At your stature, nothing could be beneath you anyway."

Faulklin turned a glare on him. "You shouldn't tempt vultures. They have a nasty habit of ripping things apart."

Daijoudan couldn't help but cock a brow. "You?" The fact that Faulklin would call himself as much was no surprise at all. The boy at least didn't have the arrogance to consider himself anything superior to others, he simply hated all of humankind and lumped each and every one together as the same level of scum. He didn't even spare himself from such groupings. "You're not a vulture. You're something a vulture would eat, then shit back out."

"And you're something they wouldn't even try to digest," Faulklin spat, pushing himself to his feet, breathing a little harder as he stood, but he stayed at least somewhat steady. "Because they'd have to throw you back up."

"Just where the Hell do you think you're going?" Daijoudan demanded, sitting up and narrowing his eyes. "Sit your ass back down."

"No," Faulklin returned, walking to Rebel and climbing onto his saddle where Khu was perched in wait, the crow crackling at him and shuffling on his perch, then deciding Faulklin's shoulder was the better one and climbing up his arm with the aid of its beak. "I need to get to the next Colossus."

"In your condition?"

Faulklin rolled his eye. "Do I look dead to you?"

Actually, now that he really looked, Faulklin _did_ look better. His skin had become less pale, his movements less weak, and he was breathing easier, no longer coughing blood with every slightly-too-hard breath.

But the fact of the matter was that he _shouldn't_.

He shouldn't look as recovered as he did, and that once more fueled his suspicions that something was _wrong_.

"Even if you think you feel fine, you should rest," Daijoudan told him sternly, standing.

"I already took rest." He glanced up the legs of the bridge, as if expecting Emon and his elites to come riding in that very moment. "And we're running out of time."

"It won't matter if you die in the attempt before you can finish what you started," Daijoudan pointed out, not for the first time. "You may think you can just keep charging ahead and pressing your luck, but reality doesn't work that way. It will catch up to you no matter how much you try to convince yourself that it won't."

"And I already told you it doesn't matter," Faulklin snarled, his blue eye slitting. "I already know my chances of success without you trying to _educate_ me about it all the damn time." He turned Rebel away, about to kick the horse into running.

"Do you want to leave Mamoru entirely alone?" Daijoudan's words made him freeze before he could follow through. "Because if you fail and die, he'll have lost both of the only people he calls family. Is that really your intent?"

He saw Faulklin's shoulders slowly slump, his head bowing slightly. "Don't talk as if you know a damn thing about what I'm doing."

"Don't insult me by acting like I'm too dim to realize," Daijoudan snapped in return. "I know that you're doing this for his sake, not yours or hers. Even Komeko knew that when it came down to it, the only person you really gave a damn about was _him_." Faulklin still didn't move, not to look back at him or respond, but not to run on ahead either.

With this, he might as well have the boy chained, and he wasn't going to relent until he'd managed to talk some proper sense into the reckless little shit.

"If you die before you finish with all sixteen Colossi, Komeko won't come back to life, and it'll be as if you've done absolutely nothing. Even worse than nothing, you'll force him to go through a second loss he didn't have to go through, because you never stop to fucking think about what that'll mean for once in your pathetic life. You really expect me to believe you'd willingly hurt him like that? Even _you_ aren't that selfish."

Faulklin was silent for several long beats, before finally letting out a shuddering breath. "And what exactly do you expect that I'm supposed to do, then? Just forget about all of this and go back, with nothing to show for it?"

"No," Daijoudan snapped impatiently, taking in a deep breath and letting it out, trying to steady his nerves. Even when he wasn't trying, Faulklin knew just how to make him bristle in the worst of ways. "I didn't say give up. I said take some time out of the day to take care of yourself properly. Your chances are slim but they aren't non-existent."

At least Faulklin was actually - _truly_ \- listening to him for once, his head angled back faintly to hear his words more clearly.

"But they become even less when you don't give your body the proper attention that it needs. That means resting... tending to wounds... eating and drinking. All of it between these fights. Emon might reach this place long before any person, no matter how competent or tireless, could ever realistically take down all of the Colossi, but you certainly as Hell aren't doing yourself any favors by ignoring your own basic human needs. Give yourself a break, for fuck's sake, or the only thing you'll be accomplishing is a pointless, premature death!"

Faulklin only continued to stare down at Rebel's neck and towards the ground, his shoulders sagging and head bowed, looking every bit the part of the scolded child. He was silent and unmoving, before he finally blew out a long-suffering sigh, what tension remained in his muscles leaving it and the adolescent tracing a hand to his side, massaging it idly. Even if he was recovering far too quickly than was natural or healthy, the eldest between the two didn't doubt he still had to be in a lot of pain from the injuries plaguing his body.

"Alright..." the shorter male finally relented, his voice laced in reluctance, but also a hint of agreement. There wasn't even a hint of bite or sarcasm, so much so that Daijoudan almost thought the sky itself would start falling. "Alright. You're right. So, what now? I already slept, drank, ate..." he glanced back at Daijoudan and once again he was surprised by the boy's willingness to even _attempt_ accepting, much less seeking out, his council.

"We return to the Shrine," he ordered crisply, climbing onto Ayametsuki's back and nudging her forward until their horses stood side-to-side. "-and go after the next Colossus."

"But I thought you said-"

"I said take care of yourself between fights," Daijoudan cut him off impatiently. "We've done that. On the way, we'll stop when we find food and water. And after the next battle, we'll rest and eat again and keep our strength up."

Faulklin nodded mutely and Daijoudan nudged his horse ahead, Rebel and Faulklin soon following just behind them in shocking obedience.


	12. Shadows on the Wall

Heading back to the Shrine, the two only paused briefly in their path. Once was near another one of those smaller stone shrines scattered across the territory of the forbidden lands, almost like smaller models of the large Shrine in the center of the region where Dormin and the sixteen statues resided. There, they caught a lizard that crawled up the wall. They had seen a lot of lizards scattered about the land since arriving - too many, were truth be told, as they were one of the only species to inhabit the area - but this one was unique, its tail white and faintly reflective in the light. They decided they would cook and eat it later, too full on fruit from earlier already.

And more fruit was what they gathered from a few trees just this side of the cliffs before they returned, where Dormin immediately greeted them with their next cryptically described colossal enemy.

**_"Thy next foe is... a tail trapped within a pail deep within the forest... A shadow that crawls on the walls."_ **

Having their next task ahead of them, they rode out, and the light of the sword pointed southeast, to the side of Valus' territory and through a canyon behind that rose even higher than the winding path between the 3rd and 7th Colossus' territories. They only briefly stopped at another tree just before the slain Minotaur's territory before continuing on. They were full now, but that would soon change after they fought the Colossus.

Dust choked the air as they entered and only once did the sunlight manage to reach the floor of the canyon over its towering walls. The way forked to each side, but they headed left, towards where they could see grass and sunlight.

It was the beckoning maw of a cave ahead that they entered, slowing their horses once inside as a gaping pit opened in front of them where a waterfall emptied into the abyss deep below, and a thick mist ensured that the bottom was lost to sight.

To their right, a narrow trail of rock led further in, barely clinging to the wall with enough space for a horse to squeeze through, then extended through the pit with a drop on either side. A man-carved stone pillar stood at the center point of the natural bridge, bidding them welcome to ensure that this was indeed a place where a Colossus resided, and they followed it, forced to go single-file slowly on their horses since it was too narrow to enter any other way without falling into the dark below.

Beyond that, a forested, open-ceiling grotto awaited and a natural reservoir beyond that, the vague shape of dark-colored fish flitting through the surface further out. Across the water stood a small temple overtaken by plant life, sitting on a tiny island of rock and grass, and most of its features worn away by time and weather.

They rode around the edge of the pool, across a small rise that provided a bridge just above the surface of the pond, and splashed through shallow water where it dipped gently, until reaching the entrance, where the hopped down and entered on foot, senses alert. A hole in the side of the entrance hall provided them a means to see clearly at first, then the path darkened as stairs led them deeper underground.

They came to a chamber that would have been perfectly symmetrical if not or bits of crumbled ceiling stones scattered about, some vastly larger than others, but it allowed for a great gap in the ceiling which poured light in at an angle from above. In the center at the far end was an open doorway atop a carved wall, and two risen paths on either side of it that ended just before two pillars with small ledges. Oddest of all were the fire pits on the top of those pillars, which still burned with flame that should have long ago died out.

The thought made Faulklin's hair prickle. Had someone else been through here? It had taken them a long time to travel back from the last Colossus. Perhaps Emon and his men had already arrived, awaiting them. He saw no human figures here, but that wasn't to say they wouldn't be just beyond.

At first, there was no Colossus, and the space appeared too small for one anyway, so he did not think that one of those beasts would have been responsible, yet he couldn't help recall Dormin's words about _a shadow on the wall_ , and his eye wandered them warily just in case.

"Oi."

"Hm?"

"There's something I've been thinking about ever since we first started dealing with the Colossi."

Faulklin paused to look back at him. "And what would that be?"

"Don't you find it odd?" Daijoudan prompted seriously. "This land? The Colossus themselves? The weak points they have on their bodies?"

Faulklin glanced aside, looking thoughtful, then shrugged unconcern. "I guess."

"And then there's you," Daijoudan continued, staring at the shorter male appraisingly and making him shift uneasily beneath the harsh scrutiny in the older man's eyes. "You shouldn't even be able to move without barfing up half of your insides."

"What are you getting at?" Faulklin demanded, though his tone was subdued.

He was reluctant to admit it even secretly, but Daijoudan had been a help to him. He wasn't entirely sure he would have made it this far without the help. Likely he would have died during the second fight when he almost fell off the Bull's back... no, even before that, when Valus had raised its spiked club to crush him.

He would have been dead by the first fight, yet here he still was, marching on to the eighth instead and feeling not half bad all things considered. He still hurt, most definitely, his wounds not entirely gone, but he was a lot better off than he rightly should have been.

"I mean there are things in this place that are not right, besides just the blatantly obvious. What sort of creatures have glowing marks like the ones the Colossi have? It isn't natural."

"Yeah, okay, but what is your _point_ , exactly?" Faulklin huffed impatiently, placing his hands on his hips.

"My point is, stop to think for a fucking second about what the significance of all these things are. We're in a place where the sun never moves and the voice of some... _thing_ is asking us to perform a task for it, but the question is, what does it gain from us slaying these sixteen giant monsters?"

"You think it has some ulterior motive?" Faulklin cocked a brow. Daijoudan cocked his higher.

"You _don't_?"

"I never really thought much on it," Faulklin admitted, before repeating, "but it doesn't matter."

Daijoudan sighed, partially switching topics. "Okay, you said the Colossus have names. How do you know that?"

"I just do," Faulklin shrugged.

Daijoudan frowned unhappily, but he didn't argue about it. He didn't think Faulklin was lying, just that the ignoramus wasn't bothering to use his head properly. Constant insults aside, Faulklin was a far cry from stupid, but his intelligence was glaringly selective. He only used his smarts when it suited him and there was a clear reward at the end of his efforts, or at least when he convinced himself that there was, and only then did he relentlessly pursue it. Everything else, he willfully ignored, and it often made him the worst kind of reckless.

Unfortunately for nearly everyone who became involved with him, the boy had a tendency to set his sights on things that were troublesome, in only the most generous use of the word.

"The first one was named...?"

"Valus," Faulklin said without hesitation.

"And the second one?"

"Quadratus." That was one of the names Daijoudan hadn't heard yet. Faulklin continued without needing to be asked. "Then the third was Gaius. Then Phaedra. Then Avion. Barba. Last was Hydrus."

"What about the next one we're about to face?"

Faulklin paused, his brows furrowing in concentration, but he shook his head. "I don't know. Nothing comes to mind." That gave Daijoudan a moment of pause.

"Okay, so you only know the names of the ones you killed?"

"Yes..." Faulklin said slowly and tilted his head in question as Daijoudan gazed off to the side and down in consideration.

Daijoudan remembered those black tendrils that had left the bodies of the Colossus after each death, and he was sure they were related. Had those been the souls of the Colossus themselves? Or something else? He knew that the Colossi were not wholly organic, at least _partially_ crafted by the hands of Men, so what use was a soul? Why and how had it been placed there? Were the Colossus beings in their own right? Had they chosen to be placed there, or had they been forcibly sealed away against their will, cursed to remain prisoners in a vessel that was not their own body and too grotesque to ever be recognized as something once human? Had they been innocents, or condemned criminals?

In slaying the Colossus... were they freeing innocent spirits wrongfully trapped, or releasing something far more sinister?

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he could only assume the latter over the former. His gut told him that that was edging dangerously close to the truth, but his better sense knew that Faulklin wouldn't care enough to cease his endeavors, even if he could wrap his mind around the same logic.

He also wasn't sure that it wasn't too late to turn back without repercussion. They had already slain almost half of the beasts, of which each of their essences had taken residence in Faulklin, and their effects on his body were already apparent. There was no way for him to be sure how much damage had been done where he couldn't see, and if Faulklin had any idea, he wasn't sharing.

"Are you done?" Faulklin asked, turning further into the chamber and staring to scale up one of the lit pillar, so they could traverse further into the ruin. "In case you've forgotten, we're on a time limit."

Daijoudan clenched his jaw, but said nothing, only accompanying the other male further in.

Their path took them down one staggered wall and up another, before heading down more stairs and finally exiting a doorway into a donut-shaped chamber with barred windows separating them from the center opening. A flight of stairs leading down stood to their right as soon as they exited.

A loud hiss made them both tense and crouch in the shadows, then a roar that echoed long and fearsome all around them, bouncing off every crevice. They slunk forward when they didn't immediately see the creature, towards the barred windows to figure out what they were dealing with.

The structure they were on was the uppermost floor of what appeared to be a perfectly cylindrical coliseum, save for how it tapered at the very bottom, a full six stories high. Golden beams of light radiated down into the center directly like a spotlight, where the top opened up fully and only a few crumbling horns of stone half-caged the top. In the center ring way down at the bottom, a black-and-gold shape shook itself, but its eyes were turned forward instead of up so it didn't notice them at all just yet.

It was smaller than any Colossus before it, but it was also a fully armored beast with side-swiping legs like a lizard and a waving fan-like tail, and from raised plate-like scales on its back crackled an angry golden light like what the spines of their last foe had emitted. Faulklin hissed an angry curse under his breath at the sight of those dancing lights.

The beast turned its head up and they ducked back, wondering if it had heard, but it only lazily walked about its pen, leaving black spots in the wake of its steps, as if its feet charred the ground. If this was anything like the last Colossus with a body charged to bursting with electricity, neither had any doubt that it really had burned the ground where it walked.

All four of its forelegs glowed suspiciously with a white-green glow, just like the underside of Quadratus' hooves had. Those were definite suspect points to attack.

As he continued to watch, he realized that this was the first Colossus they had dealt with so far that had no fur to it whatsoever, nor any place he could see that might have a weak-spot.

"How are we supposed to fight this thing?" he whispered, more to himself than actually expecting Daijoudan would have an answer, and he didn't get one. He was really starting to lament Dormin's words before each fight, finding them to be damn useless in giving him any idea. Most of them he had figured out relatively easily after the first and second fights had played out, but none of them were quite like this one.

He sighed. The only thing to do for now was to wing it and figure things out as he went. First they had to grab its attention, Faulklin lacing his bow and notching an arrow. He felt Daijoudan's glance, but the man said nothing, and he let the projectile fly almost straight down, harmlessly clattering off of its stone body. The Colossus shook itself like a dog ridding itself of water before it turned its head upward, eyes red with rage.

Lightning crackled in its stone jaws and both of them swore, ducking back as it fired a bolt of energy that exploded on the stone ceiling just above them, the pure power within the blast as it passed several feet away from them making their hair stand with static.

What neither of them expected was that a noxious, orangey gas hissed outward from the impact spot where the energy bolt had blackened the stone, quickly surrounding them in crackling vapors that made Faulklin's muscles go rigid and his nerves fire ballistically, his vision spinning as he staggered away from the plume.

Every inhalation as he blindly stumbled his way away from it made his throat and lungs feel like he'd swallowed gratuitous amounts of acid, eroding the lining of his throat raw. He collapsed and rolled away from the cloud as he coughed and covered his mouth with his hands in a vain attempt to protect his airways, tasting blood and the flesh of his own esophagus feeling like coarse sandpaper against itself. His chest ached with rapid palpitations that were quickly rising a primal sense of panic, and he couldn't even force himself to move, partially curling over into himself and willing it away.

The vapors cleared, but he still couldn't even twitch, his rigid limbs freezing up and his skin itching with a dull fire. He hissed as a hand grabbed him by the arm, the touch stinging tender flesh, pulling him to his feet, and dragged more than led him down the first flight of stairs into a cubby where they couldn't be seen.

"S-stay..." Faulklin began to rasp, having to pause as the effort alone made him cough scarlet once more. "...stay away from the blast vapors..."

Daijoudan looked him up and down critically, before he had to look to the side to cough into the back of his hand, wiping away the faintest stain of red.

"I know. I got a good whiff of it too." He glanced Faulklin up and down again. "It didn't affect me nearly as bad as it did you though." Faulklin glanced up at him in confusion, his single eye glossed with disorientation and involuntary fear that he was clearly fighting to suppress, his heart still struggling to correct its rhythm. "Your body must be hypersensitive to the electricity because of the last fight when you took that underwater shock. You have to avoid those blasts and their charged vapors at all costs."

Faulklin wasn't entirely certain if that had anything to do with it, not really knowing much of anything about how electricity worked, but he nodded his agreement, having no intention of getting caught up in them again.

They both tensed as they felt the rattling of the Colossus as if it were _right there_ , Daijoudan peering up over the ledge of the stairs as he saw its underbelly claw over one of the windows to even higher up, quietly swearing.

"That thing can fucking climb vertical."

"What?" Faulklin gaped. He shook his head. He should have known. Dormin's words had warned them of such. "Holy Hell."

"Better figure something out quick."

"I'm thinking," Faulklin hissed near-silently, squinting his eyes shut as he tried to focus around the way his head swam. "It's legs," he said after the long stretch of nearly a minute. "Its legs glow. Maybe if we can hit them, it'll fall." He didn't know what they were to do after that, but he knew the Colossi could be stunned, after his fight with Barba had ensued and they'd given it a nice concussion against the wall. Daijoudan nodded his agreement and drew his white blade, glancing at Faulklin and waiting for the boy to recover enough to fight.

They could hear the Salamander's legs stomping against the walls as it searched for its prey, more bolts fired from its maw, but for the moment, they were safely out of its sights.

Faulklin stood and nodded to show he was ready. Daijoudan returned it, and they carefully made their way out of hiding.

When they emerged, it was _right_ in front of them, perched at the top of the coliseum even higher than the floors went and facing upside-down, its head arched and firing through some of the barred windows, attempting to flush them out and not even noticing them only a handful of meters away. Faulklin raised his lips to whistle and drew its attention, the beast climbing down and coming towards them. They ducked behind one of the thick pillared walls, which thankfully blocked them from view, and the Colossus passed them by to fire at the place they had been standing before, even though they were nowhere within sight. Glancing out the window behind it where its tail covered, Faulklin could see dark grey fur on its underbelly where it wasn't armored, and a faint blue glow that beckoned for his blade.

 _There!_ he silently mouthed, and Daijoudan nodded to show he had seen as well.

He reached his arm through the window, feeling the hot energy radiating waves off its body, and stabbed into the Colossus' rear leg, causing the beast to hiss. As he twisted it hard, the light in its leg went out and the limb fell limp, but it clung on with the other three legs. Its charged attacks, however, ceased, and the mist it fired evaporated. Before he could figure out how to attack the rest of it or reach the glyph, the light in its leg rekindled, and it found its grip again, all within the span of ten or so seconds.

"Shit, it regenerates really quickly." They would have to attack its legs quickly enough that it couldn't recover.

"We'll each attack its legs. You take the back ones, I'll take the front," Daijoudan coordinated. Faulklin had no qualms with that, and nodded, the Colossus swiveling to face them now and attack again.

They both ran around the ring, dodging blasts and waiting for two of its legs to be within range of the windows, and in a coordinated attack, stabbed two of its legs. With only two more to hang on, it detached from the wall, and fell the full six stories.

"Move your ass!" Daijoudan barked as the creature tumbled and crashed to the floor below. Faulklin nodded his head and sprinted down the stairs as fast as he could, out of breath by the time he reached the bottom, but he found the Colossos splayed their on its back and lying still.

He ran up the flat of its tail where a glyph glowed to life between its two rear legs, heat from its radiating energy filling his body from even the most subtle contact, and stabbed down at its weak-point, feeling the entire beast twitch and writhe with a hiss of pain. By the first stab, the reptilian Colossus was already flailing and squirming, rolling toward its stomach with the second stab.

Faulklin didn't manage to dislodge his blade and leap off quite in the nick of time, and its full bulk smashed into him, its stone tail hitting him in the side and throwing him several feet into the diagonal slope of the coliseum's bottom ring. He struggled to draw in a breath after the wind was knocked out of him and sputtered when he finally managed to snatch a gasp of air, struggling to get to his feet.

The Colossus snarled furiously at him and fixated small, glaring eyes on him as he staggered for the closest of four doorways into the ring, limping quickly up the steps as another charged blast built up in its maw and fired. He dashed as fast as he could up the steps before the vapors could reach him, and kept going up the steps, having to pause halfway up just to breathe and rest his legs, which protested sorely.

He heard the Colossus climb up the walls again, but ignored it as he hid, hearing it fire blindly into windows further away and up. Once he was ready to keep climbing, he and Daijoudan found each other on the second story down from the top, the man catching him by the arm and stopping him.

"Switch."

"What?" Daijoudan gave him an impatient look as Faulklin's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Give me your damn sword and bow, and switch with me. I'll run to the bottom. Lure it to the top, and I'll see if I can't shoot the bastard down."

"On my own?" Faulklin's eye widened as if the other male was insane, and Daijoudan rolled his eyes.

"Yes, on your own," he told him, unsheathing his silver sword and trading off, in case he would still need a weapon. "When it falls, I'll be ready, and I'll get in as many hits as I can. If it still isn't dead, we switch again. If we have to keep running up and down, it will take forever. If one of us is already waiting at the bottom, we'll get a longer window to finish it off."

Faulklin huffed, but he nodded, seeing the logic.

"Alright."

He handed off his bow and they both silently parted, Faulklin going up to the top level and Daijoudan sprinting down. Faulklin went to one of the windows and crouched, poking out over the edge and whistling. He wasn't as good at it as Daijoudan, but he managed to catch the Colossus attention and immediately sprinted away from one of its blasts to the other side of the coliseum.

He saw it climbing up to where he had been, up and over, and then turned upside-down again to arch its head into the window, firing. Faulklin whistled again shrilly and drew its gaze, running away from another charge, and whistled as it began to claw sideways along the wall and over each window in pursuit.

An arrow lodged in one of its legs and it snarled, slumping, but not falling, as the light in one leg went dim. Then another arrow lodged in a second leg, and it fell sideways, spiraling through the air and crashing onto its back, unmoving.

Faulklin went to the window and peered out, watching Daijoudan sprint across the arena and onto its belly, drawing the sword up and jabbing it down. The Colossus twitched but didn't begin to flail yet, and he got three more good stabs in that made the first glyph disappear. The man ran further up to its chest where the second glyph sprung to life, and stabbed down, the Colossus beginning to recover now. He got in another good stab before it was moving too much for him to keep an effective grip, threatening to roll over on top of the man.

He stood and sprung off its side, hit the ground, and ran up the steps to disappear before the beast even had the time to fully find its feet and spot him, and Faulklin ran to the stairwell that the man was ascending to meet him halfway, where they traded off swords and Faulklin's bow.

He was more glad than he could express to have the chance at taking a quick breather as he reached the bottom, the Colossus drawn and distracted by Daijoudan's whistles.

When he was ready, Faulklin swung out of hiding with his bow already drawn, looking about for the Colossus, and aimed. The beast noticed him, beginning to charge an attack, seeming to know that he was the one tasked with bringing it down, but it misfired somewhere much higher above as Daijoudan angled out of a window and stabbed one leg, while Faulklin fired into another. In that moment, he couldn't miss how the wall was spotted in black like the pelt of a leopard, each one a footprint left by the Colossus' feet.

The Colossus screeched its alarm and fell, rattling the entire arena as it crashed to earth and crumbled some of the stonework in its fall, and Faulklin wisely stood back away from it until it had settled, the shockwave of it hitting the ground still being enough to rattle his bones and wounds, gritting his teeth through the pain.

He ran for the felled monster now and climbed up to its chest, kneeling into its fur and bringing the blade down into the quickly sealing wound that Daijoudan had left in his earlier assault, renewing the spray of black blood that vaporized like mist in the air above him. Three stabs was all that it took to finally finish it off, and the monster let out a harrowing death throe as its entire body arched upward into a ball, almost crushed Faulklin in the fold of its belly, before it splayed out again on its back, dead.

Faulklin panted both bone-weary exhaustion and exhilaration all at once, wedging his sword from its chest cavity and sheathing it at his side, sinking down to lay against it. He already knew at this point that the snake-like shadows that came out of it would seek him out and pitch him into temporary oblivion within the next few seconds, so there was no point in standing when he would just hit the ground unconscious anyway. It wasn't as if he'd have enough time to even reach the first stairs, much less higher, and he was too drained to bother trying.

Just as he expected, the point of the tendrils pierced into him from all sides, and his vision went darker than the charcoal-colored armor hide of the slain Colossus he laid on.


	13. Intermission

_In the dark nothingness of the tunnel, he heard a voice, distinct yet nonsensical, as if speaking underwater. But he knew that voice. He knew it well. The writhing darkness around him was broken only by a light ahead, just out of reach and never growing closer, despite that he felt as if he were moving forward. Then it rushed to meet him, and there was nothing but white. That too melted away._

_The sight before him was that of the Shrine alter where Komeko's body lay, light glaring between the pillars from the lands just outside as the wind gently ruffled the ends of her sacrificial dress. A droning wind whistled in his ears, and the white doves around the alter were consumed by writhing shadows like those that veiled the Colossus just after death, the birds silently flapping and writhing against the ground as though dying._

_The light that radiated through the stone columns flickered brightly, but he didn't_ \- couldn't _\- squint against the glare. The light became blinding to his eyes, which refused to close, but when it dimmed and he found relief from the brightness, Komeko's form twitched on its own, and then began to sit up as if waking from little more than a regular sleep._

 _The light flashed in his eyes again, blinding him entirely, and when it dimmed once more, she swiveled and looked straight at him. Were he breathing -_ was he not breathing? _\- it would have caught in his throat, but there was nothing. His sense of touch was still there, the wind caressing him... no, more_ through _him than anything. He could hear its whisper. He could obviously see what was before him._

 _Yet somehow, he was absent. This place and he were separate, as if he were looking through a screen from somewhere far away, even though he was_ right _here._

_He couldn't find his voice, struck mute as Komeko looked off to the sides, as if in confusion and still not fully awake, but becoming increasingly more lucid. The light flickered, and for a dreaded second, she was lost again, swallowed by it, but it harmlessly faded to reveal the same scene that continued to play._

_Then there was a shift. Suddenly she - no, it was_ him _that it happened to, not her - was yanked away. The wind grabbed him like claws, sinking into his flesh, and spirited him backwards. The empty alcoves where the idols of the Colossus once stood rushed by him as he was sucked toward the back of the long hall, wanting to scream in dismay -_ he had come so far! _\- but he was helpless to do even that._

_The wide archway that led to the shallow pool of water at the back of the temple swallowed him in shadow, and then-_

Faulklin jolted, his single eye snapping open and his breathing coming quick and hard. A bright light assaulted his eyes and he felt a wave of panic. There was soft earth beneath his back, and-

He could _feel_ soft earth beneath his back!

He forced his breathing steady, squinting against the sunlight that beamed straight down. Only now did he register a hand leaving his shoulder, and when he turned his head to the side, he saw Daijoudan watching him carefully. Neither of them said anything, and Faulklin sat up, his joints aching in protest, but he ignored them. It was only then that he registered the smell of smoke and crackle of a fire on wood, and another moment after that he recognized the scent of cooking meat that made his stomach rumble.

When he glanced around, he realized they were still in the cave just outside the temple leading to the lair of the 8th... of _Kuromori_ , the wall-shadow.

"You were sleeping fitfully," Daijoudan finally spoke, turning his attention back to the fire that he'd made, "then you started to scream." Faulklin guessed that was the point that the man could no longer ignore him.

He only nodded to show he'd understood, too distracted by the man's words and trying to figure out why they were still here to notice Rebel until the stallion partially bowled him over with its nose, earning a faint yelp of surprise. He sighed loudly in affection and reached both hands up to scratch the horse's jaw, before glancing his head back, realizing his head had hit something that was like a pillow. He realized it was Daijoudan's blue-silver cloak that he had first arrived with, and mentally cuffed himself for having been stupidly wondering where the man would get a cushion way the Hell out here.

Nightmares were not uncommon for him. Both of them knew this. What was strange to him was the content of the dreams.

Most of his weren't mere nightmares of random things that his imagination conjured out of nowhere. Most of them were recollections of the things he tried to forget when he was awake.

 _Try_ of course being the key word, but he was able to suppress most of it, anyway. Some of it he couldn't remember if his life depended on it. Things like faces and names, mostly, or details like correlating locations. It was much like the carved structures of this land, really. The structures and foundations themselves still stood, a testament to something long past that had once bore finely chiseled detail, now long weathered into obscure shapes that were only barely recognizable. Some things that had once stood were buried or crumbled away entirely, leaving only guesses to fill in the gaps. Occasionally he would remember things, like sand in a desert blown away from a structure once hidden, but eventually it would be covered again and lost when a storm raged through.

Repressed memory, Mamoru had once called it...

The memories existed, but his subconscious had trampled them deeply out of reach, even when he tried to find those fragments again. Really, he tended not to even bother searching. He knew he had chosen to forget those things for a reason, but Mamoru had insisted he confront them, a little at a time. That they'd work through it together. None of it had been easy, but it hadn't been fruitless, either. He didn't really think they had gotten anywhere, but Mamoru made it a point to tell him constantly that he had made progress.

Maybe he had, maybe not. He could never really see it the way his older brother said, but then he'd only been told that was his own pessimism weaving lies.

He was broken out of his thoughts as Rebel nudged him again, butting his whole head against the teen, and he huffed again audibly, scratching Rebel's chin with the faintest of smiles. The stallion's perked eyes drooped and ears relaxed contently now that it had its master's full attention and snorted softly against him.

Deciding it best to get up and stretch properly, Faulklin pushed the horse's head up away from him and staggered to his feet, raising his arms to the sky languidly and working some of the stiffness from his shoulders. Rebel smacked his floppy lips around the bit of his halter and stepped sideways against the boy expectantly, snorting that he was ready to ride wherever the boy intended on leading him.

"Go running off and I'll throw you in the damn lake," Daijoudan threatened, without even looking up. Faulklin answered with an irate roll of his single eye.

"I wasn't planning on it. Calm your tits, _princess_." The man gave him a look that was worth paying money to see and Faulklin couldn't help but smirk as he turned back to the saddle to check his supplies.

He'd started off with a full fifty arrows when they'd first arrived, and was still doing fairly well to have more than half of them still there. He was actually somewhat surprised to find that he still had a good thirty-three in his quiver, certain they had used more than that, but he guessed that Daijoudan must have had the foresight to collect some already used that were still in salvageable condition after the Colossi were each defeated.

Glancing aside, where Daijoudan was pointedly not paying him any mind anymore, he walked back to the fire and glanced over the smaller lizard and a rather sizeable fish skewered over the flames. Silent, he sat against a small stone wall and glanced off to the side at the water as it gently licked at the bank. If they were hanging around, maybe he should take advantage. The water was probably cold, and his body still ached from the fights. Besides, fights within the water aside, he was feeling pretty filthy by this point, collecting grit and sweat alike from both the fights and the rides between them.

He stood and walked to the edge of the water, pulled off the black stand-alone hood on his shoulders and pendant around his neck first, then the long, fingerless black gloves that stopped just below his shoulders, the snug black sleeveless, his belt and all its hanging feather decorations, and then finally his boots. The only article left to cover him was his pants. Even after all this time, the impulse to cover and hide the patchwork of scars down his forearms and back was almost overwhelming, but he forced it to the back of his mind and waded in, the cold liquid sending brief shivers up his legs and then his spine.

He stopped once the water reached just below his chin and arched his back slightly, feeling the soreness of every muscle and hearing a few small pops. He stretched his arms, and even the tendons strained, causing him to wince, but he only breathed carefully and tried to work some of it out as the water made every hair on his skin prickle with goose bumps, massaging away the tenderness with his hands and scraping away the grit with his nails. The numbness from the chill was a welcome relief, though he wished the water would be warm instead. Nothing to be done for it except make do with what he had, though.

He took a breath and dunked his head underwater, combing fingers through his hair to rid it of things that might have collected and pulling off loose hairs. He blinked his single eye open, his sight needing to adjust against the water, and for the most part, it was dark, but a few beams of light managed to penetrate the surface and he could make out dark shapes flitting through the water further away, fish that were as long as he was tall.

He surfaced again and decided he'd had enough, his thin frame protesting the cold and he stepped back out. He was glad for the sunlight beaming down through the top of the cave above, shaking rivulets from his hair that scattered dark dots over the stone shore. Rebel stepped closer with a whicker and a faint toss of the horse's head, and for a moment he smiled and reached out to scratch the stallion's shoulder, only to grimace as his nails came away covered in loose hair and dirt.

"You could use a bath even more than me," he huffed in amusement, raising his brow at the horse, which only huffed back. Faulklin undid the saddle and pulled it off and aside, then led the horse into the shallows until it was almost shoulder-deep, before also removing the bit and halter and tossing those to the bank. He ended up scrubbing and brushing off enough dirt to make clouds of it in the water, taking with it all kinds of loose hairs that had probably been annoyingly itchy, and having to untangle some of the long mane and tail.

Once he was finished, he gave the equine an appreciative pat and waded back to land, the hooved animal following him. He helped dry it off and, no surprise at all, the first thing it did back on solid ground once he was finished getting most of the water out was roll around in the grass and dirt both shamelessly and contently. He rolled his eyes and went to retrieve his own clothes after setting aside the things he had used to clean Rebel's coat, but as soon as he went for his shirt, the same horse trotted up and snatched it away, galloping off.

"Damn it!"

The horse only neighed at him as if laughing and tossed its head a few times, waving his shirt around like a flag and taunting him. Faulklin narrowed his eyes and run after it, making a grab, but Rebel merely turned and bolted another way.

Daijoudan couldn't help but raise his brow as the boy chased after his far-too-amused animal in an entirely vain attempt at catching it, lunging for his shirt and missing every time, up until they both disappeared around the other side of the temple, but never far from ear-shot as Faulklin continually cursed and swore at his mischief-making mount. They appeared again heading the same direction in a circle around the structure, around the far side away from the fire, and then just when Faulklin managed to get a hold of the fabric, Rebel turned and took off back the way they had come to the back of it and managed to trip the brunette to the ground.

Daijoudan couldn't help but smirk as the boy pushed himself up with bits of grass clinging to his face and chest, and the very peeved expression on the adolescent's face as he stood up and brushed the bits of plant matter off of him.

"Fine! Keep the damn shirt!" he hissed, plucking off blades of dried grass and only now noticing Daijoudan watching him with an eyebrow cocked ever so slightly. "What are you looking at, Silvylocks?"

Daijoudan only shook his head and turned back to the fire, but traces of his smirk remained.

Faulklin retrieved his other clothes and put those back on, save for the hood, then went and sat against the small stone wall overlooking the water's edge to mope passively.

"Here." Daijoudan approached and handed off the food he'd been preparing, which looked slightly overdone but at least not burnt. Faulklin was glad that the man's eyes didn't linger over his scars, as if he didn't see them at all and didn't care to know where they'd come from. That was one of the few redeeming qualities that the man had about him: he didn't pry. Other people's business was none of his, and they both liked it that way.

The white lizard tail was fatty, and the fish some of the best he'd had in a long time, healthy and clean from the clear surrounding water that probably hadn't seen the touch of Man for decades, if not longer. He used a small knife to peel away the scaled skin and toss it aside, and Khu immediately appeared from seemingly nowhere to scarf it up, croaking at him demanding more. He smirked and tossed the skins to the side where the crow pounced after it, taking some down to the water to dunk and wet it first before scarfing it all down.

Khu wasn't the only one drawn in by the promise of food. Rebel soon came to stand over him and pointedly dropped the stolen shirt into his lap, then flared his nose at the fruit. Faulklin gave it a look as though the stallion couldn't be serious, and the horse only looked back at him with its best attempts at looking innocent. Either way, Faulklin gave in, and before long the large beast of burden splayed out on its side and rested the full bulk of its head on his lap cozily to sun itself. Faulklin blew out an affectionately exasperated sigh and scratched its head, toying with the strands of long mane that fell over the animal's face.

He heard the soft snoring of fluttering lips as Rebel dozed off, before Khu soared overhead and came to land on the side of his neck, making the stallion twitch up and give the bird a dirty side-eye. Faulklin smirked as the bird chattered as if having pulled a wonderful joke and then cozy up onto its human's shoulder, and Rebel laid his head back down, too tired and comfortable to raise a fuss.

Faulklin glanced aside toward Daijoudan as the man disappeared toward the water with his mare following him almost eagerly and could only guess the other man had similar intentions as he had had.

No use in rushing to prepare for another fight for now. They were halfway to their goal and while he was stubborn enough to go charging off towards the next fight, he didn't feel fair in making Rebel get up again now. He suddenly felt a stab of guilt. He had still managed to get _some_ rest between fights, even if it was fleeting, but his horse hadn't, save for the moments he and the mare were left to wait outside a territory they couldn't enter, like the lake or the cliffs. The stallion had worked hard without protest to take him where he needed and probably only snatched standing naps very occasionally and spent most of that 'free time' likely nibbling up grass and water where it could get it instead.

Making himself as comfortable as was possible, he closed his eyes and nodded off before he could realize he was even tired.

It was when Rebel stood of the horse's own accord that he awoke, glancing up as the stallion shook itself off and yawned above him. He glanced up and saw that Daijoudan's mare was sunning herself now as well and the other male was likewise taking a nap. Or at least he looked like he was, but it was highly unlikely he was so deeply asleep that he wouldn't notice him moving about.

He was right about that.

As soon as he passed by to retrieve Rebel's tack, the man blinked his eyes open and sat up, rubbing the back of his neck stiffly.

"Ready?"

"As much as I'll ever be." And they still only had a very limited window of time to finish the other half of the Colossi off. Eight had been dealt with, and they had another eight after that. He didn't have the luxury to sit around forever or take his sweet time, and the Colossus were likely to only get more dangerous the further they progressed towards the end.

Saddling up their horses, they walked back around the lake, leading the two animals by the reigns, then through the cavern entrance and over the narrow bridge of stone. Once they were outside and the horses huffing in and out so they couldn't suck in air to keep the saddles loose, they tightened up the girths properly and mounted, heading back to the Shrine.


	14. The Tortoise Chasing the Hares

_**"Thy next foe is... the land where trees nary grow... It sleeps in a dry lake bed... A rude awakening."** _

* * *

At least this one was a _dry_ lakebed. If it had been an actual body of water again, he would have screamed.

Their path away from the Shrine took them slightly north-west, heading towards the natural stone bridge near Quadratus' beach, but instead of heading that way, they went across the other bridge to the left. To their right as they rode across was the small sea beside the great Bull's territory, and to their left, even further down the steep walls, was an even longer stretch of water that disappeared around the bend, sending up a roar of churning waves pushed inland by wind and an even greater ocean much further away and out of sight.

After they cleared the steep rise and fall of a few grass-and-stone hills, a small wayshrine stood just ahead of them, and beyond that where the light pointed, a massive cloud of what Faulklin could only assume to either be smoke or possibly even dust kicked up by a rampaging Colossus. The thought made him frown, but not stop or turn back. Whatever awaited in that shroud, they would find out soon enough.

They went to the small shrine first, where there was another one of those white-tailed lizards that they caught and killed for later. Faulklin climbed to the top of the tower to get a good look around and shone his sword into the grey fog. The grasslands turned to stone further ahead, and he thought he could make out the gap of a gorge where a couple of gangly trees barely held on to life. On the other side of it, the enormous mouth of a cave, which was where the light of the sacred sword pointed to directly. He thought he saw some sort of flicker of white through the fog, but he couldn't make sense of what it was, and it was gone from view again.

They rode onward, and soon that cloud choked and darkened the air around them, being the closest thing to night that they had experienced since coming to these far-flung lands. The grey vapors were moist and warm, but they smelled and tasted odd, like something rotten mixed with soot or ash and steam. They crossed a short bridge of grey and red stone, a few rough shrubs managing to survive rooted in cracks, and then onward to a larger, open expanse.

No sight nor sound of the Colossus, but Faulklin already knew that it was hiding tucked away in the cave a little further in.

It was as they were heading towards it that a jet of white suddenly shot straight towards the sky from the earth and Faulklin abruptly pulled Rebel to a halt, his single eye wide. He realized moments afterwards that it was _water_ , spraying upward in a pillar like the trunk of a tree, then spreading out in a plume like a full, thick canopy of steam that showered down a few feet away from the opening in the rock, and all around it in a perfect ring was a circle of deep, shiny ebony. The spray lasted a good full minute before it stopped and the cloud of white it produced drifted seemingly out of existence, but left behind a very distinct smell like rotten eggs.

"What in the Hell?"

"Never heard of a geyser before?"

"Well I've _heard_ of them," Faulklin stated, sounding slightly annoyed at the insinuation behind that statement. "But I've never actually seen one. And what in Gods' name is that _stench_?"

"Its volcanic gas. In larger concentration, it'd be deadly, but its diluted by the water. That water is hot enough to burn though, so unless you want to find out what a boiled lobster feels like, you'd best stay away from its jet."

"You sure seem to know a lot about it," Faulklin noted idly, the two flicking the reigns on their horses and going around as the geyser erupted again.

"The imperial city is located near a semi-dormant volcano. We've been more or less coexisting with it for hundreds of years. Steam vents and lava flows aren't exactly uncommon."

Faulklin merely nodded. It made sense then, that Daijoudan would be so knowledgeable. There weren't really any volcanoes that he knew about for tens of miles at least back in the village where Emon ruled. It raised some other unnerving questions though.

"So underneath us is a volcano somewhere?"

"Maybe, but more likely they're just magma chambers." Faulklin gave him a look, and Daijoudan realized he had to explain. "Magma is the liquid rock that volcanoes spew, before it reaches open air. Underground, its magma. Above ground, its lava. Its probably still deep below us, though. It heats the water so that it has to escape somewhere, so it bursts out regularly through those vents in the rock. The only thing we're likely going to need to worry about is water erupting, but not much more."

Faulklin merely nodded to show that he understood, but he would be lying to claim that he wasn't fascinated. Nature was an intriguing, unfathomable force.

They continued toward the cave, a few leafless, deciduous trees standing just at the border of the mouth, but there was still no immediate sign of the beast, up until they reached the trees where a great roar made their horses falter with whinnies of alarm. A great mound rose up from seemingly nowhere, the black pits of its eyes springing to life and loose boulders falling from the ceiling within to harmless clatter off its back. The Colossus stomped as if throwing a grumpy tantrum and emitted another guttural roar.

Its head was wider than it was tall, with a lower jaw that shoveled upward in rows of teeth-like stonework like that of a bulldog with no upper lip or nose, instead melting straight into the sockets of its eyes. Beyond rose two long rows of stone spines all the way down an armor-plated back, gorgeously carved patterns at the sides and base of the columns and weathered rough and natural at the top. From either side of its head protruded what almost looked like sets of three gill-flaps, and hanging from its chin and underside of its jaw and neck were stalactites. The legs as it started to walk forward were intricately carved pillars that swept to the side, into a less detailed joint, and then down toward a socketed foot.

The horses danced in fright, trying to figure out which direction to bolt, and then leapt straight into a gallop away from it. The Colossus bellowed angrily and lifted its head almost straight up, and between the stalactites on the underside of its chin, yellow lightning crackled to life, readying to fire at them.

"I'm getting really sick of Colossus that shoot lightning!" Faulklin screamed as he barely wheeled Rebel to the side, away from a blast that flew overhead with a loud _SSHWooom_ and exploded upon the earth, then two others that flew off course somewhere else and missed. The only plus-side was that they didn't release a vicious gas like the last one, but there was also no place to take cover like there had been in Kuromori's coliseum.

Enraged that it had missed, the Colossus snarled and lumbered after them, and Faulklin spared a glance behind them, circling around widely. Now that he got a proper look at it, once it emerged from the shadow of the cavern, he could tell quickly and easily what sort of animal it was modeled after.

"That's a damn large tortoise!" It was half as long as Hydrus had been, far wider than Quadratus, though set lower to the ground. The rattle of the ground beneath each step hinted that it was likely more than twice as heavy. Like Kuromori, the only fur Faulklin could see was on its belly, but everything else was stone, armor, and rock-like hide. It glared at him and swiveled to turn, but its movements were comparatively sluggish and full of effort to turn its great bulk. "And just as slow, thankfully." On horseback, they had a clear advantage. He could only guess that at least one of the weak points had to be on its stomach, and he knew just how he was going to attack it, were that the case.

Adjusting his grip on the sword handle, he guided Rebel in a circle around the beast as it arduously turned to face him. When he saw his chance, he took it, kicking Rebel faster to spring between its front and back left legs, raising his sword as they swept beneath it. He stood as high as he could in the stirrups, raising the blade above his head and watching for where the glyph would appear as the tip shallowly cut a long slash from one side to the other, earning a shriek more of rage than being hurt, but he saw nothing and they dashed out between the legs on its right side.

He tugged back on the reigns and Rebel immediately tried to skid to a halt, wheeling a full one-eighty and leaping straight back into a sprint towards the Colossus again obediently. A second too late, he realized his mistake as the Colossus already had its head charged with electric bolts and fired, the ground exploding directly in front of them and making Rebel stumble and flip, both rider and horse striking the ground hard.

Faulklin struggled to draw in breath and get back to his feet, winded, and the Colossus let out a roar above him. He heard Rebel whinny fearfully somewhere off to his side and finally managed to find his legs as he went back to the flailing horse, urging it up even as he glanced scrapes along his poor steed's legs and sides.

"Come on, Rebel, we have to move!" he told it, both sharp and coaxing in tone all at once.

The horse shuddered a snort in reluctance, but faithfully obeyed as Faulklin clamored onto its back just as the Tortoise pushed off with its front legs and towered above, then came crashing back down. Rebel settled into a canter with a pained whicker and then broke a full gallop when the land shook like a grand, sudden earthquake, spooking the animal faster.

Faulklin was panting with adrenaline at that point, having been afraid they wouldn't make it out of the way, but he glanced back and smiled relief as Rebel raced onward and he patted the stallion's neck in appreciation.

"Good boy, good boy. Now lets put up some distance and figure this out."

While he and Rebel rode away, Daijoudan rode in, drawing the Colossus' attention with Ayametsuki and dodging more blasts from the Colossus.

Faulklin managed to snatch a glimmer of light through the cloud of grey steam and smoke, and found that it pointed at the beast's head.

_Oh, great. Just how the Hell am I supposed to even get up there?_

He didn't get any more time to ponder as a blast managed to almost hit Ayametsuki and Daijoudan, sending the horse staggering and falling to her side, kicking and flailing. Before they had recovered, the Tortoise was already charging another blast to finish them, and Faulklin kicked Rebel to run hard past and around them as the boy notched an arrow and fired at the Colossus, drawing its attention and its blasts, which zoomed somewhere inbetween him and Daijoudan off into the distance.

"Come on, after me!" Faulklin shouted, stowing his bow and raising his sword, hoping that the monster would be drawn by it. Something dangerously close to recognition seemed to alight in its eyes and the Colossus turned after him to pursue, forgetting Daijoudan entirely and giving him and his mount more time to recover.

The Colossus fired volley after volley for him and his horse, but Faulklin and his steed managed to maneuver around all of the ones that didn't go flying off to only Gods knew where.

Then he heard something he didn't think he would have, the angry cackling of a crow, and glanced back to see Khu fluttering in front of the Colossus' eyes, annoying it more than anything else, but it proved a suitable enough distraction to keep its attention and blasts away from him now. The monster shook its mighty head, each segment of its shell swaying and scraping against itself as it tried to be rid of the irritating bird, which was well out of its range for a blast of electricity.

As Faulklin circled around behind the beast, Khu flew away from its head and down its back, landing on one of the swaying pillars down its spine and cawing raucously at its master. Faulklin watched it as it steadied itself from being thrown on one of the pillars, then dove down and between the two rows, and then up away from its head before it could get within blast range.

 _I get it._ Faulklin smirked gratefully. Clever bird. Now he just had to figure out how to get up there. Figuring that part out would be the trick, though. Its tail disappeared well below the ledge of its shell, blocking him from running up that way, and it was too high to jump, even from his horse. Climbing the legs was a no-go, they were too smooth and the movement alone would toss him. Getting up to its head was going to be hard.

As he was circling around, one of the geysers erupted and blocked the beast from view, the boy frowning. He guided Rebel around the far side of it, but as he continued to circle, he couldn't bring the Colossus back into view, his brows furrowing in dreaded confusion.

He whipped his head to the one side, squinting into the thick cloud cover, but didn't see it, then the other side, but there was nothing.

"...the fuck? How do you lose something _that_ big?" He slowed Rebel almost to a halt to listen, straining his ears to hear over the hiss of the water and clatter of hooves. Rebel startled and he looked to the side, the beast's head seeming to come out of nowhere from behind the jet of the geyser, making him curse with eye wide in horror as it began to charge another attack from far too close. He kicked Rebel into a sprint, and the horse didn't hesitate for even half a second. The Colossus pursued, but let out a roar of surprise and ceased the build-up of energy as it tilted up and to the side, legs on one side swiping and flailing at air helplessly.

"What in the-..."

What his eye was drawn to next was its legs where the socketed, stone-carved feet tried to hold the ground but the legs tilted sideways to support the mighty behemonth, and on the inside of that was a honeycombed green and gold glow, like the underside of Quadratus' hooves or Kuromori's legs. If he could hit those like he had in _those_ fights, then just maybe...

The geyser stopped and the Colossus fell back onto its legs, hiding its weak-spots once more behind pillars of armor, but Faulklin knew just how to fight the beast now, nudging Rebel into a run and wheeling in a circle around the beast. The Colossus followed persistently, and Faulklin slowed Rebel's pace just slightly so as not to lose it this time. Daijoudan soon joined him, sidling Ayametsuki alongside him.

"I know how we can probably beat that thing now, but we need to lure it over one of the geysers right as one of them blows." Daijoudan gave him a look, but Faulklin explained before he could ask. "There are weak points under its armored legs, like the second and eighth Colossi." The man nodded to show he understood and they parted as another blast zoomed between them, exploding just behind in a cloud of dust against the stone floor.

It took more than a bit of maneuvering, with the Colossus refusing to move quite right to get to where they wanted it, but after a good fifteen or so minutes of patience and running on horseback, it finally climbed its way over the vents and didn't manage to keep walking far enough before a jet of water exploded upward and threw it off balance.

"Now!"

Faulklin didn't even spare a second to nod, wheeling Rebel around and kicking, the horse sprinting as fast as it could to make up the distance. He notched an arrow, the wind whipping his face and hearing the stallion huffing and puffing beneath him like a small locomotive, and he fired an arrow into the space under the Colossus' leg. It shrieked agony and one leg slid further under it, almost slamming right into Rebel, but the horse dashed past in the nick of time.

Just before the jet stopped, they sharply circled, Faulklin drawing his bow, aiming carefully with his eye aligned to the shaft of the arrow, and let it fly, hitting his mark. Another shriek and its leg slid to the side, the Colossus rolling towards its back as he raced away to a safe distance.

The crash was so loud it almost made his ears pop, and the solid stone beneath Rebel's pumping legs bounced both him and his horse several feet straight up, making the animal trip and roll to the side over him in the landing. Faulklin hissed painfully between the weight of the Friesian-Shire and the bouncing of solid stone rattled down to its very foundation, and he was sure he felt at least one rib snap and the breath crushed from his lungs.

He didn't have time to pause and recover. He breathlessly gasped pleas for Rebel to get up and take him to the beast, which flailed helplessly on its side, its legs kicking the air, and keened frightfully.

His horse flailed, staggering back to its feet, and ran immediately without question. He passed Daijoudan, who had pulled to a stop a fair distance and just now glanced at Faulklin as the boy blazed by, giving him a look of winded shock that was purely priceless. Faulklin only grinned back at him.

"What's the matter? Extreme tortoise tipping too hardcore for you?" Faulklin threw back over his shoulder with a cynical bark of laughter, racing on ahead before he could hear the man's reply, if he gave one at all.

The head of the monster was covered in fur - he could see it now - but too high for him to reach. He circled around the other side and spied the fur along its belly, which reached all the way to the shell where there were several odd ledges. It almost seemed to be set-up explicitly _just_ to be able to climb up to its shell at the top of its side.

Come to think of it, hadn't Daijoudan said something about the Colossus being suspicious? Or was that entirely coincidental?

He shook his head. It didn't matter, he needed to get up to that shell and attack its weak point. He could mull over paranoid guesses later.

He launched from Rebel's saddle as the rode past the belly of the beast and he began to heave himself up, ignoring the pain in his side. It took him a good length of time to reach all the way up, but no longer than he had before the Colossus managed to right itself. It continually moaned a gravelly sound, low and reverberating as it squirmed to roll back to its feet. When he cleared the belly and reached the side-crest of the shell, it began to teeter back towards its legs with a mighty heave.

Faulklin grit his teeth and held on to the ledge tightly and was thrown over the edge, barely managing to hold on. The tendons of his arms pulled so sharply he thought they may have torn, and he tightened his jaw to resist screaming, only loosening his facial muscles after he managed a few coping gasps through clenched teeth.

Taking another gasp of air in preparation, he clawed his way up and onto the ledge of its shell, stumbling along it towards the very back where he could run between the rows of spines that made a pathway straight for its head. The Colossus arched its body in odd waves, almost like a large, loose 'S', simultaneously arching its back, and then shook itself violently side to side like that. Faulklin lost his footing and slipped, hitting the hard surface of the shall and rolling into one of the large stone columns, but not between them and over the side, so he stayed on rather than fell to his death.

He heard a whistle and galloping hooves, and the Colossus forget him entirely, chasing Daijoudan and firing electrical bolts after him. Taking the moment to catch his breath thoroughly, Faulklin stood, rolling with the motion of the Colossus' gait, and ran to its furred head, where he kneeled down over the glyph and took his first stab.

The Colossus roared both surprise and fury, seeming to have _truly_ forgotten he was there and was stunned long enough that he got in a second stab before it realized fully what was happening, the natural geysers now mimicked by ones of black blood that sprayed upward from the wounds he had inflicted. He stabbed a third time, and the Colossus viciously bucked its head upward against him with such force that it made Faulklin's chest hurt, but he held on, not allowing it to throw him skyward. Each time he stabbed, a fourth and a fifth time, he was bucked upward so fast and hard that he felt his stomach go up into his throat and his head go light, but he held fast like the most stubborn of fleas.

Seeming to realize that that wasn't working, the Colossus began to throw its head from side to side, and Faulklin could only flatten himself with a tightly woven grip in its fur until it stopped.

With each new stab, it began to quiver and shake once more, trying to fling him aside, but he refused to be rid of that easily. Five more stabs, and the tenacious beast _still_ didn't fall, nor did the glyph on its head disappear, and Faulklin found himself losing strength, his grip failing so that he tumbled from its forehead and landed in the bowl of its U-shaped jaw, directly in front of its eyes.

Hissing and snarling, the beast threw its head from side to side again, and this time, with little to hold onto, it _almost_ succeeded in throwing him, but the brunette braced himself with his shoulders against the stone between its eyes and a foot against one of its stony teeth, even though the pressure and movement made his back and shoulders howl in hurt protest.

When it finally stilled, he ran around the edge of its jaw and managed to clamor back to the top of its neck, throwing himself down into the fur as it tossed its head to and fro once more to be rid of him. When it stopped, he pushed himself up to his knees, clutched the blade in both hands, and brought it down, twisting sharply and satisfied when a loud _CRUNCH_ met his ears, the beast shuddering forward and its entire shell spasming with the vibration of its last breath.

Its lights went dark and the Colossus' back leg buckled, half-kneeling against the ground. Then the other fell after it, and its entire back half rested against the ground limp. Its front end reared up in a last death throe as it roared pitifully and its front legs slid to the side out from under it, allowing its chest and then head to crash against the flat rock beneath.

Faulklin panted and shivered, not with cold but adrenaline and fatigue, climbing down the head and sliding onto the flat of its jaw only for his quivering legs to give out and kneel where he landed. He could hear hooves approaching, glancing Daijoudan riding towards him, then his single eye traveled upwards at the tempest of shadowy tendrils that dove at him and vanished into his chest and stomach, taking his consciousness with them.


	15. The Eyes of the Wyrm

The ride back was uneventful and Faulklin awoke as they rode up the steps to the Shrine, where Dormin gave them their next task.

**_"Thy next foe is... An isolated sand dune... Its tracks are well hidden... Shaking the earth, its gaze is upon thee."_ **

They paused long enough to check their horses, Faulklin's especially, as he picked small rocks out of scrapes on Rebel's legs and knees from when they'd fallen during their fight with the previous Colossus. Once he was sure Rebel was fit to travel, Faulklin mounted and they headed outside once more, getting an angle on the light from the sky, which pointed due west, out beyond the black cloud where they had just come from.

They crossed the same bridge as before, and stopped at a same wayshrine just short of the Tortoise's territory before pointing the light again, which angled somewhere to the side through a hill. Rather than go through the geyser field, they went around, heading southward, since the cliff was too steep for the animals to head straight west or southwest.

Their ride took them to the very edge of the sea channel that cut through the lands, stopping on a cliff that was not one but _several_ hundred feet high above the water. They could easily see the desert on the other side of the cliff and another wayshrine, trees, and one of the pillars of light over each of the fallen Colossus' territories. Barba's, in this case. On the far end of the canyon was a visible, natural bridge that connected the two. Even further than that was a stretch of dark blue ocean as far as the eye could see, carrying the distinct smell of salt.

"Check that out," Faulklin breathed.

"Never seen an ocean either?"

Faulklin rolled his single eye. "What do you think, geniass?"

"Can you _ever_ hold a conversation that isn't filled with profanity and insults?" Daijoudan quirked a brow.

"I dunno, can you not be arrogant and pompous?" Faulklin turned Rebel away from the cliff and nudged the horse into a steady trot, heading westward across grassy plains that fell and rose in gentle hills. Not far away were a few trees, some of the larger ones that probably bore fruit. He headed towards those.

"I was raised Royal," Daijoudan scoffed, Ayametsuki matching pace with the stallion. "So what's your excuse, Yappy?"

"Yappy?" Faulklin raised a brow.

Daijoudan considered withholding an explanation, but where would be the fun in that? "Because you're like a damn small dog with a - _fully_ justified - inferiority complex always yapping its head off."

"I'd call you a smart ass, but you'd have to meet the qualifications of the first word before I can promote you that high."

"Did you have to spend your entire life coming up with that insult?"

"Do you really need me to give you another?" Faulklin retorted, pointing off to the side. "The cliff is that way, Silvylocks. Go jump off it."

"After you. Shrimp belong in the sea."

Their argument continued well through their ride to the trees, stopping first at the closest, lone one, and then continuing on to a small cluster of more further west where the light pointed them. That was when they ran into a problem, a steep cliff wall blocking their way further and from where they could see the stone bridge over the sea inlet, now much closer. Faulklin climbed up one of the trees to try and see over, but it was no good trying to go further west from where they were.

Both of them were also gaining a much greater appreciation for exactly how _big_ this place was as they were realizing they may have made a mistake that could potentially cost them.

"Are you actually saying we went the _wrong_ way?"

"I'm saying it's _possible_." Faulklin scowled as he held up the sword, which shone slightly northwest of them. He glanced due north, but it was impossible to tell if it went through to where they needed to go. "I'm not sure yet, but if we head that way, maybe we'll end up in the right place." He swung down on one branch and dropped, Rebel trotting to meet him so he could mount.

They headed north, and as luck would have it, the cliffs angled widely to the left, before a short ravine appeared. A thin strip of sunlight shone just beyond on more fields of grass, where they stopped to check the sword's light again, which turned sharply to their left beyond another wayshrine in the shadow of the rocks. The mouth of a cave stood behind it, and both were sure that the Colossus was probably somewhere inside waiting for them.

Inside, flocks of bats parted to let them through, and the cave itself was only loosely winding, going on for a ways. When it opened up, it was to a great cavern filled with a lake of sand, and they slowed to a halt within the safety of the tunnel with senses alert. The cavern was certainly large enough for a Colossus, and both recalled Dormin's words about it making its home in an `isolated sand dune`, but there was no immediate sign of the beast.

The ceiling of the place was almost like a maze of staggered stone, some parts hanging down lower than others. Scattered throughout the space were great pillars of rock here and there, and Faulklin thought he might have seen another cave entrance beyond the sand. To the right of the great chamber was a hole in the ceiling where light poured down, but he wasn't fool enough to think that riding there to gain a hint of where the beast might be hiding wouldn't bring that same monster out to greet them.

"Any idea where you think it might be?"

Faulklin blew out a long breath, thinking.

"Well..." he hummed. "Dormin said _its tracks are well-hidden_. I can think of two places that might entail in sand. One is that its on the walls or one of those rocks somewhere, maybe even in the opening where light is coming down from, up there," he directed with a tilt of his head. "Just like Kuromori could climb walls. Or... somewhere down below... underground." In sand, that wouldn't be so hard for something like a Colossus. He wasn't sure they even needed to breathe, so being buried alive would probably do nothing to harm it at all.

Daijoudan nodded, seeming to agree and glancing down at the sand in scrutiny. Walking or riding out there was going to be potentially even more dangerous, when they didn't know where the beast was going to be coming from, but it was a risk they were going to have to take, nudging the horses into leaping down the stone ledge and continue further in.

Nothing immediately appeared or made any noise to indicate it was near, so they headed towards the spot of light to confirm with the blade. As soon as they reached it, there was a rumble in the earth and a shifting of sand further out, then an explosion of dust upwards. When it cleared enough to see, an armored, eyeless head breached out of the sand, then dove back in, a stone spike along its back arching upward, to soon be followed by a long, semi-flat back of fur, and an armored tail at the end of it. It was probably about as long as Hydrus had been, but far bulkier, and it breached out of the sand like a whale or dolphin leaping out of the sea, disappearing again beneath the sand.

What didn't entirely disappear was its stone fin, like that of a shark, its movements making all of the surrounding sand rumble and shift. The horses sidled nervously and stepped up out of the grains that were starting to swim around their hooves like water rushing in to swallow them, hopping up onto the stone of one of the rocky pillars instead.

The Colossus came straight for them, looking as though it might ram the structure, but it turned at the last moment and swept around the side of it, passing so close that the pillar shook violently, making them afraid that the rocks might crumble and fall right atop them, but the stone thankfully held as the Colossus passed on further away harmlessly.

"I guess it doesn't like rock," Faulklin mused, watching it carefully and not letting the beast out of his sight, although with how the air was being choked with dust, that made it a little difficult.

"If that's the case, then we'll use it to our advantage."

Faulklin nodded his agreement and kicked Rebel into a run out onto the sand, chasing after the Colossus. First thing was first, they had to figure out where its weak points were and how to hit them. So far there had been a way to reach and defeat every previous one's weak points, so they simply had to figure out the trick to this one. Once again he remembered how Daijoudan had said something about the monsters being man-made, and how the Colossus had seemed almost programmed or built in a way _specific_ to defeating them, as if each one was a puzzle of some sort or a test, so he imagined this one could be no different.

The trick was figuring out how to solve the proverbial puzzle.

Gaining the Colossus attention was no trick at all. As soon as he neared, the creature turned around to come after him and Rebel, and he steered to the side away from it. The Wyrm was right on his tail immediately and managing to keep pace and maintain a distance, forcing the boy to marvel at how it could move so swiftly through the sand.

Rebel whinnied alarm and kept running, Faulklin trusting the horse to keep him safe and giving him full rein to sprint as he swiveled in the saddle, trying to figure out how they were going to combat this beast. The Colossus pursuing close at their tail was definitely nerve-wracking as it left waves of dust plumes in its wake behind it and rumbled the earth like a continuous quake that followed their every move.

They raced about the ring and headed back towards the light as Faulklin drew his sword, then angled it up as the Colossus continued to pursue. Just off its back glimmered one glyph, and perhaps one further back, but it was hard to tell from this angle if it was merely catching the same glyph with how its body arched and trembled through the sand.

The Colossus groaned a whistling noise that was soon echoed by Rebel in panic, the whites of the horse's eyes showing as it swiveled to the side away from a wall. Faulklin saw the Colossus disappear fully beneath the sand, then leap several feet out of the earth into the air, scattering waves of sand off its back and a great pair of pincer-like jaws opening to reveal a magma-like inside that radiated so much heat it started to make him sweat in an instant, if he wasn't already from the adrenaline pumping through his system.

Faulklin swore profusely and tugged the reins sharply, making Rebel turn even further away as the beast belly-flopped into the soil and sent up an even greater cloud of dust. The Colossus squealed anger and wriggled back beneath the sand, making the dust so thick now that it blackened all sight for a good several yards. It seemed that it lost him for now and he slowed, watching and trying to figure out where it had gone now.

" _Shit_ , where is it?!"

"You _lost_ it?" Daijoudan rode up alongside him as Rebel pranced forward, trembling and shaking beneath its rider and eyes still showing white, nose flaring in search of the creature's scent.

"It disappeared underground, I think," Faulklin huffed, not sure if his own shaking was because of himself or Rebel. He highly doubted, even before the cloud of dust it created began to dissipate, that it had stayed in one place.

Sure enough, before long had passed, he saw a new cloud of dust as the creature emerged from beneath the soil, its sharp fins announcing its approach. Daijoudan signaled Ayametsuki into a run and blazed by it, looking to distract the beast and switch off, but it had no interest in him and his horse at all, going straight for Faulklin. The youth cursed and nudged Rebel into a gallop, the tired horse obeying and leaping away.

It wasn't nearly so fast this time, even though the stallion was hyped up on terror and adrenaline, and Faulklin swore as he saw the beast just behind them, starting to catch up. If they went any slower, they would end up rammed by its full bulk. He turned Rebel sharply, and his faithful animal immediately did as it was indicated, barely managing to slip around its head without getting butted across the cave by either its skull or fin.

What the boy did _not_ expect was that the Colossus not only tried to turn to follow, but _succeeded_ , its entire form arching until it was moving through the sand _sideways_ and exposed its stone belly, turning its entire body into a far too effective rudder.

"Holy _fuck!_ How can something that big turn that sharply?!" His own breathing was coming strained and fast with fear now, knowing just how _screwed_ they were if he couldn't shake it off their tail, and Rebel was quickly losing speed and strength. His mount wasn't a marathon sprinter or a good cutter, it was built for strength and steady endurance. Daijoudan's lean, tall-legged mare was better suited to this, but the Colossus didn't seem to have the slightest bit of interest in either of them.

He glanced around quickly, calculating. His eye caught one of the stone pillars and he angled Rebel in that direction, nudging the horse in encouragement and silently willing the stallion to hold out long enough to reach it.

He heard the Colossus whine behind him and glanced back over his shoulder, his breath catching in his throat as he saw that, indeed, the Colossus _did_ have eyes. Great, bright, glaring red ones that were only a couple of feet _right_ behind them. It whistled again and those eyes folded against its skull, disappearing entirely and it dove. Faulklin cursed, knowing exactly what that meant and was just glad to pass by the pillar, wheeling Rebel around the back of it and out of sight as the Colossus leapt from the sand with jaws gaping open to try and swallow them whole.

When he was sure they were well clear of it, he guided Rebel up onto the flat of the stone pillar and pulled the panting, sweating horse to a stop, patting and scratching him in reassurance, murmuring words of comfort and praise to calm the breathless horse.

Rebel whickered fright as the Colossus circled around, its stony fin breaching the surface of the sand, but Faulklin held back his mount from bolting.

"It's okay. We're safe here." _I think._

He saw Daijoudan ride near the Colossus, and for a moment it looked as though the beast was going to give chase, but it circled back and passed by the stone pillar once more ominously, refusing to leave behind its prey for another. Even the rumble of the Colossus passing by without directly hitting the stone pillar made it shake violently, the vibration traveling through every bone in his body.

_Just why the Hell is it so intent on me and not both of us?_

"It's the sword, idiot!" Daijoudan spat, almost as if reading his mind as his horse danced in place further out on the sand where it was safe. Faulklin blinked and glanced to the sword faintly gleaming in-hand. Suddenly it clicked.

It wasn't _him_ they were intent on, it was the sword itself, the only weapon that could destroy them.

"Toss it!"

Faulklin glanced up, brows knitting in question, before it dawned on him. He sheathed the blade and untied it from his belt, both he and Daijoudan watching and timing the Colossus as it circled about the stone pillar. Just as it passed, Daijoudan rode forward heading the opposite direction, and Faulklin threw it. The silver-haired male caught it easily and rode away hard. Just as they'd both hoped, the Colossus let out another whistle of rage and followed it, leaving Faulklin and Rebel alone on the safety of the pillar to rest.

Taking his while to glance about their surroundings, he saw the narrow entrance to a cave tunnel on either side, the distance between each from where he stood about equal to each other. The Colossus could shovel its way through the sand, but probably not stone, since it was pointedly avoiding even running into the pillars, never mind going through them. That could be the key to their victory right there. Or at the very least, an advantage to reach somewhere safe to rest besides being sitting ducks out in the middle of this sand field.

He raised his fingers and whistled shrilly as he saw Daijoudan and Ayametsuki still drawing its attention, pointing when Daijoudan glanced his way.

"The tunnel!"

Daijoudan looked where Faulklin pointed and nodded, both of them taking off on horseback for it. No doubt Ayametsuki was nearing her sprinting limit by now too, even if she was better built for it. Faulklin couldn't have been more relieved to reach it and see that the Colossus turned away instead of tried to head in after them, squealing its displeasure and passing on further through its lake of sand once more.

By now, all four - humans and animals - were panting and out of breath.

"Figure anything out while you were running from the Colossus?"

Daijoudan sourly shook his head. They could barely even see the damn thing, never mind figure out how to combat it, and it moved too quickly. This wasn't like dealing with the water Colossus either. They couldn't simply grab on and keep a hold as it dove underground while it continued to move.

"We need to figure out how to make it stop moving. That's the only way we're going to get anywhere." But that was far easier said than done.

"If we could stun it, somehow..." How were they going to pull that off, though? It wasn't dumb enough to ram itself into anything and knew its territory well enough to avoid all the places that might happen. Tricking it would be difficult, if not impossible. For the first time, Faulklin heard the murmur of Dormin's many voices, rumbling through his head to offer up words of guidance, as if impatient with his inability to have figured it out for himself.

**_"Aim for its eyes..."_ **

"It's eyes..." Faulklin repeated under his breath. Daijoudan raised a brow.

"What?"

"Its eyes," he repeated more loudly, shaking his head and giving the man a look of his own. Honestly, was he deaf? Dormin had only _just_ told them. "Maybe if we hit its eyes, it'll stop moving or something."

"And what gave you that idea?"

Faulklin's brows furrowed, trying to discern if Daijoudan _honestly_ hadn't heard it. Had Dormin only spoken to him this time? Whatever. It didn't matter. He shook his head and stared ahead at the form of the Colossus gaining distance as it scoured through its territory.

Now that he really gave it some consideration, why had he not thought of as much sooner? _`Its gaze is upon thee`_. How dense could he possibly be?! Hadn't Dormin already given them a vital clue? He wanted to smack himself, but he wasn't going to now only for the other male to have leverage to criticize his intelligence later. As if he didn't already do it enough.

"Dormin's words as the temple said _its gaze is upon thee_ , and when I was running and it drew close, I saw its eyes pop up." He hesitated a moment as he gave it more thought. "Some of the other Colossus, their eyes had a covering, like glass. I don't think this one does. That's why it hides its eyes most of the time when moving through the sand. Otherwise it would be blinded by it."

Daijoudan looked unconvinced of that, but he huffed and nodded his head. "We don't have anything else to go off of. It might at least be worth a try."

Faulklin nodded and patted Rebel's neck in both appreciation and apology. "Sorry, but we're going to have to go back out there." Rebel tossed its head and whickered protest, angling its ears unhappily, but obeyed when Faulklin nudged it forward none the less.

It didn't take long for the Colossus to notice them, both horses racing side-by-side, fueling each other's energy to run. Both Daijoudan and Faulklin held their horses back from a full sprint only slightly until the Colossus was close on their tail, then gave full rein as Faulklin swiveled around and notched an arrow.

As soon as he saw those red eyes poke up, he aimed carefully, steadying himself, and fired.

The Colossus squealed and squinted its eyes shut, still moving forward, but now it writhed and spiraled, furiously shaking its head in pain. The two horses parted separate ways on either side as the Colossus charged ahead between them, blindly moving forward straight for the wall of the cave. When it finally collided, the entire chamber shook with the force of impact, but the Colossus stopped moving, stunned, and its back arched upward out of the sand, swaying back and forth in dizzying tandem.

Faulklin couldn't help but grin victory and turned Rebel for it, snatching the sword from Daijoudan's hand as they passed it off like a baton. He jumped down from Rebel's back and scaled up, where a glyph brightly sprung into existence just above where its tail-end disappeared beneath the sand. The sway of its body wasn't enough to dislodge him or make it terribly difficult to hold on and he stabbed into the center of the glyph, feeling it jolt beneath him. Four other stabs later and the glyph vanished, the Colossus suddenly renewed from its shock and shaking itself free of the wall.

Faulklin jumped off its back and rolled as he hit the sand, immediately running back towards Rebel to jump atop the stallion's back to race for the tunnels once more. He glanced back and could still see the fountain of black blood and smoke where the Colossus traveled through the sand, turning to pursue them with a vengeance.

Faulklin only smirked as they reached the tunnel entrance again and pulled Rebel to a stop.

"Not so hard once you figure it out," he puffed, waiting for the charging Colossus to turn and whistle again in frustration that they were out of its sand-covered reach. He was not expecting it to leap out into the cave with jaws gaping, his smile vanishing and eye going wide.

" _Damn it!_ "

Both horses neighed frightfully and bolted, Ayametsuki moving faster and Rebel not quite fast enough and being tossed forward. Faulklin was even less lucky as he hit the side of the stone wall between its head, which took up the full space of the cave entrance and momentarily became stuck, screeching disdain as it tried to wriggle free backwards.

Faulklin gasped breathlessly as the beast's head smashed him against the rock, reflexively scrambling to push it off of him. The weight of it crushing him was only part of the agony. The other was the fact that it was _hot_ , hot as a blacksmith's furnace, especially with its jaws parted releasing waves of heat. He hissed as the underside of his forearm sizzled against its stone jaw and clenched his own tightly to keep from barking out anguish.

The Colossus finally freed itself and arched sideways to dive back into the sand.

Faulklin tumbled to the ground, rolling to collapse on his side and struggle for air. He was certain that his healing ribs had been misaligned again and the pain alone was enough to steal his breath away before he could regain it, tasting blood and bile. He groaned as a wave of nausea hit him, which he dealt with a lot more poorly than he tolerated pain, and instinctively buried his head into the pit of his elbow as he fought down the urge to vomit.

He heard a dulled, distant-sounding _thud_ , felt a hand on his shoulder, thought that _maybe_ Daijoudan was saying something, but his ears were ringing in a deafening pitch that made him shake his head to clear it as he forced himself to take one steadying breath, then another, pushing himself up with one arm.

"I'm _fine_ ," he choked, cursing the raggedness of his voice that told an entirely different story. He shrugged the hand off and staggered to his feet, grabbing Rebel's saddle to help him rise. He thought Daijoudan was saying something else, but he wasn't listening, even as the irritating chime swimming through his skull began to fade. "I'm fine," he repeated, situating his foot in the stirrup and bouncing a few times on the remaining foot to swing up onto Rebel's back, doubling over once he was in the saddle.

His flesh pulsed with the pain of his burns and his torso with having been crushed, but he pushed them to the back of his mind, focusing on his breath. It wasn't the worst injury he had suffered before and had plenty of experience coping, taking in one carefully slow breath, then another, and more after that. The pain didn't dull at all, but he could push through it. He straightened up, noticing that Daijoudan was still watching him, scrutinizing.

The boy gathered Rebel's reins, staring the man down in challenge to just try and make him stay put. "Let's get this over with." It was impossible to tell what Daijoudan was feeling, if anything, before he turned stiffly and made his way back to his own horse, climbing into the saddle.

"Give me the sword," Daijoudan instructed, earning a tilted brow. "You're not in any condition to climb the Colossus again without getting yourself hurt."

"This is _my_ task! I'm not sitting by-"

"I didn't say for you to sit by!" Daijoudan spat. Honestly! The brat needed to learn to listen before mouthing off. "I said give me the damn sword! Your aim with a bow is better than mine, so shoot its eyes again and I'll take care of the weak point after that."

Faulklin looked somewhat taken aback by the fact that Daijoudan might admit he was better at _anything_ , especially regarding anything combat-oriented. But Daijoudan was a swordsman, not an archer. Faulklin wasn't strictly either one of those skillsets, but he had more of a natural knack for the bow than he did the blade.

Once the shock wore off, Faulklin merely nodded, tossing the sheathed weapon to the man and readying his bow, both of them riding out. The shriek of the Colossus as it noticed them echoed throughout all of the cavern and it didn't take long for the beast to make straight for them, speeding along like a locomotive with ease. Both of the horses neighed alarm as the beast easily caught pace, its glaring red eyes poking above the sand.

Faulklin angled around and went to fire, but a sharp pang in his side at the motion made him gasp and miss the mark, the arrow uselessly clattering off its nose and snapping as he doubled over the side of the saddle. He barely managed to keep himself from falling as he heaved blood, leaving a trail of dark maroon droplets behind that were quickly swallowed by the churning sands.

The Colossus tucked its eyes back into its head and leapt out at them, the horses turning and bolting out of its way and continuing further.

"Oi!"

Faulklin panted and trembled, his guts feeling like they were ripping themselves apart. He couldn't entirely suppress a grimace as he sat up, but nonetheless offered up another, "I'm fine." His head continued to swim and he closed his eye, focusing on his breath again as the horses continued to gallop. Daijoudan didn't need to warn him that the Colossus pursued once more. The rumble in the ground told him, and he swiveled around, readying his arrow ahead of time, wincing at the increasing burn of his injuries, but he held steady.

When the eyes of the Colossus opened and set upon them once more, he fired, and this time he didn't miss, the Colossus shrieking and blindly flailing forward into the wall for the second time. Faulklin had assumed it might have learned its lesson the first time, but luckily they didn't appear to have a very steep learning curve. A fact that he was _immensely_ grateful for.

He watched as Ayametsuki sprinted for the beast and Daijoudan leapt straight off her back in passing, running up the length of the Colossus' arched back without having to hold onto fur up until he reached the stone fin at the top crest of its swaying back, losing his footing slightly and having to crouch until it stilled slightly more, then went for the glyph on the other side of its back near the head.

He plunged the blade into the glyph, each jab accompanied by a whistle of pain as black sprayed upward from each delivered blow. After two strikes, the Colossus writhed more violently, trying to shake its assaulter to the ground with the sharp sway of its long body, but Daijoudan braced himself on one side of its spine, undeterred, and took another stab.

Two more, and the beast shrieked its last, slithering backwards from the wall to throw its head up, then went limp and fell to the side. Its tail flipped up out of the sand and its hot jaws parted and sat slack, heating the sand beneath it.

A black shroud spread from the wound and began to encase it in a funerary veil as the black tendrils snaked outward from its form and immediately sought out Faulklin, pitching him into unconsciousness atop his horse. Daijoudan tsk'ed.

_At least I don't have to load him onto his saddle this time._


	16. Black Sheep

No surprise, both of the horses were utterly _exhausted_ by the time they'd finally felled the Wyrm.

It seemed almost miraculous that at least one of them didn't drop dead, especially Faulklin's thicker built Shire-Freisian cross. His own mare was built for speed, albeit not as much in sand. Draft breeds like Rebel were not suited to as much running, so the dark brown horse must have been suffering by now.

What they needed was rest but they also needed food and water, so staying within the cave was not an option. Neither was rushing off at any productive speed, so he was forced to settle for walking. He at least knew which of the two entrances led out from the way they had come, and he trusted to go that way more than the other, not knowing what might be on the other side of the other tunnel.

The silent stillness was a welcomed relief after their battle and Daijoudan relished the peace and quiet as the horses trudged on tiredly but without complaint. After a short while, he recalled some of the fruit still within his saddlebag and both equines perked in interest at the smell, each one eagerly taking what was offered them. Hopefully that would give them enough energy to keep going for a while until they could find proper rest.

And if that Hellion midget had anything to say about running off to the next battle, he would _personally_ knock the idiot for a loop. And another after that if one wasn't enough.

Bats chirped softly above them once they neared the tunnel's exit, swooping for flying insects disturbed by their walking horses. Daijoudan felt the gust of their wings every so often, but not one so much as brushed him.

Beyond was a valley of grass shadowed by the mountain, where both animals stopped to rip up the green vegetation hungrily, and he simply let them enjoy it for a while before nudging Ayametsuki onward and tugged Rebel by the reins. He glanced over his shoulder at Faulklin, knowing it was only a matter of time before the boy awoke, but for now the brunette was thoroughly unconscious. Which was probably better for all involved anyway.

The silverette glanced upward as he heard a croak and saw the boy's crow atop the wayshrine that stood just outside the cave, before an eagle overhead startled the corvid into a swoop, where it landed on its unconscious master's shoulder, chattering nervousness at the larger bird of prey.

Further out across the fields, the sun finally reached them and Daijoudan headed slightly north up the gentle hill and then east, really letting Ayametsuki do more of the leading than he did. He knew horses had a keen sense for sniffing out water and so he trusted the mare - no doubt incredibly thirsty in her own merit - would take him towards one source or another.

As they headed uphill, he could see the black cloud of the geyserland ahead and the Shrine off to their far right, visible even from across the entire region, like a structural beacon by which to always navigate with ease. That was probably one of its main purposes too, something to chart the land easier. The smaller wayshrines were likely much the same.

At least finding their way back would be easy no matter what.

The towering rock walls prevented them from going any further north and they turned due east towards the Shrine, but within only a few more minutes, a tarn came into view, just as he had been hoping for. Less worthy of being happy over was Faulklin stirring out of unconsciousness.

The boy blinked and sat up slightly, looking somewhat dazed, and his crow shuffled along his shoulder with an annoyed squawk at having to adjust how it sat on its perch.

"We're stopping to rest," Daijoudan announced. Faulklin's eye wandered further towards the Shrine, noting how far away from it they still were, but he didn't argue this time, despite that he looked as if he wanted to.

Looking around instead, he spied another one of those white-tailed lizards on a large rock and drew his bow, shooting it easily. Khu fluttered off his shoulder immediately for it, picking at it. When Faulklin called for the bird, it reluctantly took it back to him, rather than keep it all to itself.

How Faulklin managed to get the animal to actually follow commands still baffled Daijoudan. Crows were an intelligent species but they weren't known to be the most cooperative either. Many more intelligent species weren't.

When they reached the water and slid from their saddles, the horses were quick to splash into the shallows for a drink, lapping at it thirstily. At one of the edges of the lake, a couple of trees stood, some being the fruit-bearing kind. There were more further north of them as well, and an easy glance at the body of water told of quite sizeable fish inhabiting the waters.

They could use some wood from the trees to make a fire, and then-

"Sit your ass down."

"Excuse me?" Faulklin side-eyed the older male as if he must have been joking.

"Are you deaf? I said, _sit_. Your body is still recovering from the last fight."

"I feel fine," Faulklin shrugged casually.

Daijoudan narrowed his eyes and drew one sword out with deliberate slowness, the blade humming with the draw forebodingly. "I'll be the judge of that," he spat, just before he lunged forward.

Faulklin drew his own blade in time to block the swing, metal screeching on metal. It was the man's white blade, he noted. He jumped back, one pace, then two, not showing any signs of pain at all. They squared off and the boy's single eye lingered over the man's choice of sword.

There was a knowing look in his eye. He knew that, like the sacred sword he'd taken from the village, Daijoudan's swords were not normal, imbued with mystical properties. The silver one was like any other sword, only a bit more powerful. The white one was incapable of causing death, and wounds made by it even healed more quickly. And the black one... well, he wasn't really sure about that one. It was the only of the three blades he had never actually seen the man draw or use so far.

In their sparring matches - or fights, depending on how it was looked upon - there was always one constant when it came to choice in serious weaponry.

"Why do you always pick that one?"

Daijoudan's scowl deepened. Another constant was how quickly tempers escalated on both sides beyond their normal name-calling.

"Because I don't have enough restraint not to want to kill you halfway through our matches," Daijoudan hissed, just before he lunged forward again, doing nothing to hold back at all.

Faulklin raised his sword to block, and was almost disarmed immediately by the sheer force of Daijoudan's blow, taking a step back, which the man matched with one fluid sweep forward, already changing the direction of his swing for a third go.

Faulklin parried and dove to the side, rolling across the ground and back to his feet, whirling towards Daijoudan again. The man momentarily took up the defensive, blocking with his own sword, and was legitimately somewhat surprised at the force behind Faulklin's own swing.

Was it recklessness fueled by pain? His brows knitted in concentration for a moment, trying to read even the faintest twitches of the muscles of Faulklin's face and his eye, but he saw no pain there at all to suggest anything was hurting. True, Faulklin was good at masking things, but in the heat of a fight, concentration on such tasks slipped.

Perhaps he wasn't pushing hard enough though.

Deciding to up the difficulty, Daijoudan adjusted his grip on the sword's handle, gripping it with both now instead of one, and rushed forward, raining down a series of blows that Faulklin struggled much more to parry, block, and dodge.

The boy tried to sweep around his side and trip him, but it was a move the older male knew well enough, and he leapt over the foot that tried to catch his, swiveling in the air to land still partially facing his opponent. He hadn't expected Faulklin would charge in at him so quickly though, and for a moment he struggled to keep from his side becoming impaled on the edge of Faulklin's sword.

It wasn't like Faulklin to charge in to a swordfight so quickly, even as reckless as he was. Daijoudan was physically stronger and more skilled when it came to swordplay as a general rule, and the shorter brunette usually played defense for a while until he could see a clear opening. He was reckless, but not a brainless fool, especially when he wanted to best someone else.

 _Especially_ when that someone else was Daijoudan.

The man soon recovered and parried Faulklin's blade aside, retaking the advance and pushing the kid back with several swings of his sword. A foreign tension rose the hairs on the back of his neck that he hadn't felt before during their past sparring matches and something he _didn't like_ was raising small flags of alarm somewhere in the back of his mind, but he couldn't place what it was.

Was he... _afraid_?

What was there to be _fearful_ of, here? There were no Colossus, no other forms of enemies about...

His poorer sense got the better of him and he glanced somewhere further off, as if hoping to see an enemy that could lend rational to this sudden foreboding feeling, but there was none. He was distracted for only a split second, but Faulklin took full advantage. Daijoudan swore audibly as he swung his head aside out of the path of the blade, felt a tug just behind his ear, and then a sudden release of that tension, both the feeling that was swelling inside and the physical feeling at the side of his head.

Faulklin looked far too smug all of a sudden and it took Daijoudan several beats to figure out why, reaching a hand up towards the side of his head.

"Aw, did I mess up that pretty hair of yours?"

Daijoudan made a face that Faulklin would have paid money to see as the man felt the frayed edges of where his hair had hung somewhat loose on the sides, before reaching his ponytail in the back, glancing down at long, cut locks that had settled in the grass. The bark of Faulklin's laughter was what snapped him out of his shock and made him almost see red.

"You fucking little _shit_!" Daijoudan roared, whirling on the boy with renewed ferocity that quickly had the brunette's laughter silenced, having to work hard to block Daijoudan's swings, each block or parry making his arms strain.

"It's just hair you overdramatic pissbaby!" Faulklin snarked, wearing a far too amused grin that only motivated Daijoudan even further to try and slash him. It wasn't as if even a normally lethal hit would kill the smug little bastard anyway but it would most certainly hurt so he was _not_ going to extend even a shred of mercy this time.

In his charge, he almost got impaled in the face by Faulklin's sword, sharply pulling back and dancing away from the weapon and Faulklin, who looked to be enjoying himself far too much.

"Careful, you wouldn't want to poke your eye out!"

" _Tch_. Take your own advice, idiot. You don't have one to spare!" Daijoudan snarled, lunging forward with his blade pointed to skewer the brazen smart-mouth. He only _barely_ missed, and when Faulklin took a swing, he ducked automatically, his reflexes finely honed. He might have been at least partially out of his element with the Colossus battles - honestly, who possibly _could_ be? Then again, Faulklin seemed to have adapted just fine - but in a swordfight, he was hard-pressed to find anyone within his same level of skill.

No way in Hell was he going to lose to a brat who might've handled a sword all of four years of his life, when _he_ had been formally trained in his since he was old enough to pick up a blade.

He swung hard one way, then the other. Feinted to one side, then lashed around the opposite way and knocked Faulklin's blade aside when the boy tried to block it. Normally he would have had the annoying midget on the ground at the end of his sword by now, and certainly out of breath - especially being wounded - but Faulklin didn't even show signs of _slowing_ , matching his pace in retreat with each sweep forward.

Daijoudan pushed him harder towards the lake, frustration boiling over that he wasn't managing to even _scratch_ the boy, and when he saw the kid's foot slip on moist grass and mud, he lunged forward to strike mercilessly, only for Faulklin to throw himself sideways and roll like a log under the man's feet, tripping him up. The second humiliation he suffered that day was a face full of mud and water, and Faulklin doubling over in another bout of laughter behind him as the boy found his feet again.

"I swear on my ancestors, I'm going to kill you," Daijoudan ground just after sputtering out mud and silt, pushing himself up from the water, drenched. "Very - _VE-RY_ \- slowly."

"Oh, I'm absolutely _cowering_!" Faulklin shot sarcastically, still having a good laugh several yards away. "And while you're down there, maybe try drowning your humiliation along with yourself!"

"Oh someone is going to drown alright," Daijoudan growled, the only reason he didn't make it a reality this very second being that he needed to catch his breath. "Because we're in a very excellent time and place for you to become a missing person."

"Do go on, Sir Mud-drown. I'd love to hear how you plan on accomplishing that," Faulklin taunted, unconcerned.

Daijoudan glared over his shoulder, the other male still baring an expression that he sorely wanted to wipe off his face.

Upon closer inspection, he was noticing something else though. Or rather, it was the _absence_ of something that he noticed. Faulklin didn't appear to be hurting at all. He didn't even look like he was _winded_ in the slightest.

Which wasn't right.

He should have been gasping and huffing by now, even on a normal standard but _especially_ after he had been wounded again and coughing up blood. He didn't just look unaffected. He looked _good_. And already he had noticed earlier how uncharacteristically _strong_ the boy had been during their match.

"Trying to stare me to death, now?" Faulklin quipped when he caught the man watching him a little too long, a condescending light and something deeper and far more menacing glimmering in that single azure eye.

"I'm just trying to figure out why you're not buckled over and coughing up half your insides," Daijoudan spat sincerely. When Faulklin tilted his head as if he'd already forgotten, he added, "After that last fight with the Colossus."

"I told you, I'm fine." Faulklin returned. "Said it four times, in fact."

"And three of those times you were coughing up blood and half-delirious," Daijoudan pointed out sharply, glaring. "That was all of maybe an hour ago. It isn't natural. In fact its so far flung from natural that I'm hard-pressed to believe it, if not for the fact you held your own against me."

"Held my own?" Faulklin smiled smugly. "I kicked your ass. Put your tail feathers down, Peacock, you didn't even come _close_ to beating me that time."

"With no small amount of help, I'm sure," Daijoudan scoffed.

"Well maybe you just aren't as good as you think you are. Drowning yourself is still an option, by the way."

Just dealing with Faulklin this long made it a very tempting idea, and Daijoudan was about as far removed from suicidal tendencies as one could get. Just another one of those things that made them polar opposites to each other.

"If I wanted to kill myself, I'd climb your ego and jump down to your intelligence level," the man spat. On a more serious note, "You haven't noticed anything _strange_?"

"Strange, how? The fact that you're still breathing instead of inhaling lake water?" Faulklin tilted his head innocently. Daijoudan sighed exasperation.

"For fuck's sake, just where were you when they were handing out _common sense_? I'm talking about your physical condition, you microbial waste of oxygen!"

"What about it?"

"Oh for the love of-" Daijoudan ran a hand down his face hard enough to nearly peel the skin off. At least it got rid of some of the mud. He had all of one nerve and Faulklin wasn't just getting on it, he was trampling it like a heard of angry rhinos. "The unnaturally fast healing? The unusual amount of stamina? The physically uncharacteristic strength? And I _know_ that those damn shadows that escaped the corpses of the Colossi to infest your body have something to do with it."

Faulklin hummed and shifted his weight, looking thoughtful for a moment.

"Well maybe I like it," he shrugged, ignoring the sanity-doubting look Daijoudan gave him. "I've always been weak. Maybe it's about time that finally changed."

"I warned you not to let power go to your head," Daijoudan hissed, not for the first time. "You don't know what cost it'll come at."

"Why does it matter?" Faulklin challenged coolly. "It couldn't come at a better time than now."

"Are you completely-"

"-stupid?" Faulklin finished, looking unaffected. "Or so you like to call me regularly. Whatever else you have to say, I don't care to hear. Maybe go scream at the fish or something instead. Whatever this power is and wherever its coming from, I happen to like it," Faulklin stated, idly twirling his blade by the handle as he walked off slightly, to further emphasize how little he cared to listen.

Daijoudan growled his frustration at the boy's stubbornness and misled notions, turning back to the water and trying to clean himself up and figure out how to fix the damage to his hair while he sorted through his thoughts and tame the anger that was coursing through him.

 _`Power`_ and _`weakness`_ were rather subjective. Faulklin was definitely _physically_ weak, but he was a tenacious little fucker, like a cockroach. Whether he liked it or not - and his overt suicidal tendencies showed he really didn't enjoy this fact - he was a survivor. No matter how many things tried to bring him down or kill him, somehow he managed to beat even the steepest of odds.

Daijoudan had seen the scars. Every single one of them. The thick webbing on his back; chest; arms; and of course the boy's missing and scarred eyes, which were the only ones he couldn't hide discreetly. He also knew that the boy had lost his will to live at some point, but after Mamoru, he kept pushing forward. Mamoru was his reason - as far as Daijoudan knew, his _only_ reason - to keep living. There was strength in that sort of stubborn refusal to simply give up, too, even if it had been hard-won. Especially now, against the Colossus, which truthfully went above and beyond what any one person could ever be expected to take upon their shoulders.

Few would have had either the gal, wit, or perseverance to have felled even _one_ , much less ten behemoths such as the Colossi, much less purely for someone else's sake. Few would be psychotic enough to even _try_.

But any hint of self-preservation the youth had was entirely reliant upon how much Mamoru valued his life. He had no care at all for his life simply for himself. As Faulklin had stated openly at least once before, the doctor was the only real family the boy had ever really known. A man of both infinite kindness and patience to an extreme that was exceptionally rare, even if there was no blood relation at all.

It made Mamoru somewhat naïve as well, and the brotherly relationship certainly hadn't come without its costs because of that, but somehow it had worked out in the end. Or at least it had so far.

But the mention of not having family before that raised a question that Daijoudan had never cared to ask about before. The boy had to have come from somewhere, been _someone's_ child. Perhaps even someone's brother or cousin or perhaps even unknowingly an uncle at his age. He knew Faulklin had been one of the Kråke, based upon the black tattoo marks on either shoulder, vaguely resembling wings. As far as anyone knew, he was also the last of them, the rest slaughtered.

It was _rumored_ that Faulklin himself had at least played some part in that, if not been entirely responsible, but Daijoudan tried not to buy into rumors without reliable proof. He had never bothered with it before, but suddenly it seemed a topic worth breaching, figuring he may as well settle his suspicions and simply ask. He didn't think Faulklin would lie about it. Not so much because Faulklin was especially honest so much as that he was only dishonest when there was gain in it, and usually _after_ being bluntly, offensively truthful and not getting the results he wanted. At worst, the boy would likely just refuse to talk about it at all.

"Oi." Faulklin glanced over at the man, but didn't respond. "There's something I want to know."

Still, Faulklin said nothing, but he turned to face the man and crossed his arms expectantly, waiting for him to continue.

"It's been said that the Kråke were entirely wiped out. All except for you. So how did it happen?"

Faulklin swiped his tongue over his lip in thought, shifting his weight to one hip before finally answering. "Didn't you hear already?"

"I hear a lot of things as Emperor, most of it bullshit."

Faulklin's eye slid to the side, contemplating. Daijoudan could see the boy weighing his options on what to say before finally turning his attention back to the man.

"Well whatever you've heard is probably true." He couldn't really say for certain since Daijoudan had been terribly unhelpful in mentioning which rumors the man had heard. They weren't hard to guess though. "I killed them off."

"Why?" Daijoudan demanded steadily, tone neutral.

"Because they were all bastards."

"That isn't a reason," Daijoudan pressed. Something dangerous entered Faulklin's gaze, but it wasn't directed at him. It was an old, hidden resentment mixed with twisted pride.

"Oh, I can assure you, it is, when you phrase it _nicely_ ," Faulklin spat, shifting his weight to the other side as he glared the silverette down. "You've already seen the scars. I'm sure you can fill in the blanks."

It was a tamer response than Daijoudan was accustomed to hearing, but the brunette was boiling with an anger that was focused elsewhere, on something untouchable and ethereal for which no amount of scapegoating could lessen the smoldering hatred. Taking out his aggression on Daijoudan would do nothing to ease such deep-rooted feelings.

"You were one of them, weren't you?" Daijoudan pointed out. He knew the Kråke were infamous for being a brutal, frigid Clan, spoken of as having no mercy at all, but to brutalize their own in such a way? Faulklin's scars were nothing to sniff at, either, and they were numerous. They were certainly not accidental.

"I was only half," Faulklin corrected with a glacial tone. "I was _Uren_. Impure." With a sneer, he added, "They take their bloodlines _very_ seriously."

"That's crap," Daijoudan scoffed. "Most won't openly speak it, but there is no such thing as _pure_ bloodlines, not even amongst the nobles and royalty. Clans are made up of multiple, separate family lines."

"Yes, there were multiple families making up the Clan," Faulklin confirmed, looking serious and not falling into his usual use of profanity and constant insult-flinging. "But there were other Clans as well. The _Due_ , for instance."

"The spawn between two rival Clans," Daijoudan breathed realization as it clicked, Faulklin nodding for good measure.

"Mortal enemies. My father was Due and my mother Kråke, I think. If things had been a little different and I'd ended up with the Due, my life might have played out a lot differently," Faulklin hummed, sounding wistful for a brief flicker.

"You _think_ your parents were on those sides?"

"I didn't know either of them," Faulklin stated, his voice momentarily dropping in volume. "I don't know why or what happened, but I never knew them, not even their names. The earliest I remember was being a captive to my own people, barred from most rights that the other Clansmen were allowed and treated like an abomination."

"By everyone?" Daijoudan found that difficult to believe. No matter a group's stance or way of life, individuality was still a constant. Each alignment had both good and bad people, which became even more true the more members of that affiliation existed.

"Not all," Faulklin huffed. "But the ones that didn't actively make my life Hell turned a blind eye. The leader of the Clan was especially resentful of my half-Due lineage, and many followed his example. Others were too afraid or loyal to do anything about it even if they didn't participate. I think that whoever my father was in the other Clan, he had some sort of high station, which is part of why I was treated so badly."

"So what happened?" Daijoudan pressed again. "Why kill them all instead of just leave?" And _how_. How did an overly scrawny, ill-treated child of fifteen manage to kill an entire Clan on his own? Yes, the Kråke had been relatively small in number, but he hadn't thought they had been _that_ thinly populated.

Faulklin cracked a sardonic smile and shook his head, his eye wandering the space directly in front of his feet.

"Believe me, I tried. Many times. I tried to kill myself more than once too. I guess it wasn't enough for them only to hate and despise me. I was a living example of what would happen to children of those who 'betrayed' the Clan and fornicated with the enemy, or some such shit. Then..." Faulklin paused a moment, looking distant, recalling things unpleasant. "The Clan leader tried to kill me. Attacked me in a rage. That was the night I lost my eye, earned the scar over my other one. I retaliated and killed him then. Later, after the rest tried to figure out what to do from there and what to do about me, I killed another that had tormented me. And another after that."

"And they didn't do anything to stop you?"

Faulklin looked half-heartedly smug for a moment. "I killed the ones that hurt me directly. When those that were left got in the way and wanted to punish me, thinking I would get them next, I said I only wanted revenge on the ones who actively terrorized me, and that I'd leave the rest untouched."

"But you lied," Daijoudan guessed, not inaccurately.

"It was pretty easy, actually, once I got past the uneasiness of killing the first few. The majority that remained weren't the ones to use whips and tools and weapons to hurt me, but they never bothered putting a stop to it either. They never extended kindness or protection, even when I looked for it," Faulklin muttered, his expression darkening. "They could have, if they'd had even a shred of mercy or caring for anyone but themselves, but they didn't. No one ever stood up for me. But plugging your eyes and ears to sin doesn't make one guiltless. They were equally as responsible for looking the other way."

"It was said that even the young... children and babes, were slaughtered."

"I killed them too," Faulklin said honestly, though his voice lost some of its vindictive, sharp edge, sounding more resigned than proud. "Most of them went quick. I made certain of it."

"Because you hated them too?" It was a topic that made Daijoudan at least somewhat queasy, but he didn't let it show. If it bothered Faulklin, he masked it perfectly.

"No," the younger mused. "To spare them suffering in whatever form it took, and also to end that damn Clan once and for all."

"So there was hatred in it after all," Daijoudan perceptively noted. Faulklin stared at him in silence for a long few moments, before shrugging.

"Maybe."

Daijoudan turned back to the water, honestly somewhat surprised that Faulklin had been so... _open_ about it. The boy was a very closed-off person who talked little of anything, especially anything having to do with what was past.

Daijoudan was not one to talk openly about his life either, but really, there was very little to tell. The first and only child to the last Sanryuu Emperor and his wife, raised and trained by the sword and given all the tools and teachings he would need for when he took the throne, and not having any real hardships that weren't normal under even ideal conditions. One of the biggest tragedies of his life had been the death of his father several years earlier, but he had not suffered exceptionally the way Faulklin had, and certainly not in helplessness at the hands of others.

His life had been filled with almost endless safety nets and security of some kind, never having to worry about much of anything outside what his tutors expected and his parents and guardians asked of him.

He couldn't really relate to the boy at all, once again reminded that just about everything about each of them was polar opposite to the other. He could, at least to a certain degree, still empathize however. He would not make excuses and justify whatever Faulklin's past choices had been, but he had also never _been_ in such a hopeless, inescapable position before either and couldn't argue what he would have done differently.

For the task they had yet to complete, it didn't really matter. What Faulklin had done, was done. It was the past. Besides, Faulklin was not _his_ responsibility, and the same boy who had remorselessly killed his entire Clan was now risking his life to save a life for the sake of another. It didn't erase that the kid had been a murderer, might _still_ be in the future, but it was a glimmer of light in his otherwise dark history. It was still more than most who had committed such things would do for anyone other than themselves.

Having been working on trying to even out the cut of his hair, he paused as he angled his head to see his reflection. His hair was much shorter now, to accommodate the butchering Faulklin had given it. What had once reached all down his back when loose and untied now stopped midway down his ear, save for the tail of silver down the back of his neck. He wished for someone else to help him make it clean - and there was _no way in Hell_ he was trusting Faulklin anywhere near his hair again - but his own handiwork would have to suffice for now.

He audibly sighed as he glanced at the lost, long locks of cut silver. He almost felt _naked_ without them, but there was no going back now. It was going to take him a long time to grow it back to its former glory.

His eyes wandered across the surface of the lake as a few fins momentarily arced out of the water, before glancing back to Faulklin. They still needed to eat and rest, but maybe they could make things a little more productive in the meantime.

If nothing else, it promised to likely be at least _somewhat_ entertaining. Perhaps he might even get a chance at payback in the meantime.

"Hey, bird-brain. Let's catch some fish."

Faulklin arched a brown. "I can't swim, remember?"

"Tough shit," Daijoudan replied, standing fully. "You're about to learn."


	17. The Fangs of the Lion

**_Thy next foe is... An alter overlooks the lake... A guardian set loose... It keeps the flames alive."_ **

* * *

As annoying as it may have been, swimming was a useful skill. Faulklin had always known that, especially when the risk of _not_ being able to swim was drowning, but he had never had much opportunity to learn before now. More than once already, they had had to deal with swimming, and being unable was proving to be a real problem.

Now, sitting at the edge of the 11th Colossus' territory, this made for the fourth time that it was not only a possibility he would have to, but an unavoidable obstacle.

At the very least, Daijoudan was somewhat more tolerable when he was instructing, and Faulklin was quick to learn when he had a motive, so it worked out relatively well. He wasn't really what anyone would call a strong swimmer at this point, but at least he could keep surfaced. It was a step in the right direction anyway.

After receiving their parting words from Dormin, they'd headed out and found their path north across the orange-sanded desert, the light directing to somewhere beneath the stone legs of the bridge. Daijoudan already had at least a vague idea of where they were going as soon as he saw where the sword pointed them, and sure enough, it was the deep gorge near the cluster of trees where they'd stopped to rest after the fight with Hydrus.

A crumbling arch marked the otherwise unseen entrance, which was a pathway down the side, doubling back and forth steeply like the curves of a tightly bunched snake. A flock of eagles soared about the opening, and deep below, the dusty pit had a lake at the bottom, and across from it, a cave marked with rows of stone pillars and the orange glow of flames.

The lake, which met with the bottom of the winding path down, was thankfully small, perhaps fifteen feet down at the deepest point. It was really more of a large reservoir pond than a lake, with no fish or plants inhabiting it.

They were cautious as they stepped out of the lake, Faulklin eyeing the small temple of stone and fire above, trying to catch sight of what their next foe might be, but he couldn't see what it was yet. It may have been further in, but it didn't hurt to be careful and discerning. Already he could count at least twice where he had been near-death and at least four _more_ times he probably would have ended up dead or badly maimed if not for Daijoudan, rue as he was to admit that.

They still had six more to go, which was a lot better than he had honestly thought they would do, and he had to make it count. Six more, and Komeko would get her life back, and Mamoru his little sister. Even if he died at the end, so long as he finished off all sixteen, it would be worth it. If there was no other choice and he didn't make it, then Daijoudan could always see to it that Komeko returned to her brother, since he had gain in it as well for his politics or whatever.

But first he had to survive the next six Colossi. He could worry about what came after once he had that done.

Their path took them upward into a narrow canyon path, keeping their senses on high alert, but it seemed like a space too narrow for a Colossus to traverse. Then the path branched, with one narrow space heading into the temple, or going straight ahead further. The trench to their left made for a channel between the floor of the place within, and they decided to chance that instead of head the longer way around, since they had seen no hide nor hair of the beast in the fire-lit temple near the front.

The wall to their right had staggered ledges that were easy enough to climb, and they poked their heads over the top as they did so, but saw nothing and heard no trace of the beast. Climbing all the way up, they found that the way they had foregone taking had no such Colossus within, puzzling them. This _was_ the right place, wasn't it?

There was the faintest shift of scraping stone and Faulklin froze, listening. Then he heard it again, almost indiscernible, but listening and watching for subtleties was how he'd survived past childhood, and the instinct had never failed him.

His eye wandered up towards the ceiling and noted that it ended at the point of the ring with the flame pits, possibly hiding a ledge or upper level above. He lightly tapped Daijoudan's arm with one finger and pointing upward. The man followed his gaze and nodded, needing no further explanation.

 _It's above us_.

Faulklin's eye wandered the support pillars of the structure, looking for some route up, but even with his climbing abilities, there was none. Even the natural stone not touched by human hands was too smooth and steep for him. They'd have to get its attention and bring it down to their level.

Still hiding beneath the ceiling, Faulklin whistled shrilly and was immediately answered by a mix of a hiss and snarl, hearing stone claws clacking above. Just as he thought, there was a ledge above. An armored shape leapt down from it towards the pillars overlooking the lakebed, before whirling around and shaking its entire form like a dog ridding water.

Kuromori - the Wall-climber - had been relatively small by comparison of the other Colossus, but this one was even tinier. It was double the size of a standard horse, but much more stout. Great stone pauldrons protected both its shoulders and hips, risen scaled plates all down its back, down its sides and belly - even its _tail_ was armored - with bracers down its forelegs ending in webbed talons, each easily the size of Faulklin's full torso individually. As if such weaponry wasn't menacing enough, protruding from either side of its square head were sabre tusks, not sweeping down but at the sides.

The monster roared, lion-like in its guttural sounds, and galloped about its arena, throwing its head in challenge and snarling, but not leaving it, eyeing the two across the way with a frustrated hatred. He had been worried about its potential abilities when Dormin had mentioned flames before, recalling the Colossus who had been able to use lightning, but it didn't appear so far that this one had such energy to throw at them.

_So it has a very limited range it can travel and attack from. That's good._

If they needed to get away, they could always leap to the opposite side again. Hopefully the Colossus truly would stay put then.

Faulklin took his while to survey the space for what else they could use to their advantage, also keeping Dormin's words in mind. He had thought that the words the being gave them before each fight were cryptically useless, but the last battle had proven otherwise. Hopefully this one would be much the same.

The flames in this case were obviously those of the pits on either side of the ring, so perhaps they could use it to their advantage somehow, going by Dormin's hint. The trick was the _how_ part. The flames were atop large, square braziers of stone, taller than the Colossus, with ledges around the edge that looked climbable and spaces on either side that were too narrow for the monster to fit.

On top of that, there was no light to see where this Colossus' weak points were, but if he went up near the flame, maybe he could use that light rather than the sun's.

Time to test that theory.

Faulklin braced himself, waiting for the Colossus to pace to the far end of the arena, then ran and leapt the gap, barely clearing it, and immediately sprinted for one of the stone pedestals, ducking in between the stone. He heard the clatter and skid of stone as the Colossus tried to pursue, then stopped and clawed at the boy pressed far back between the rocks.

Daijoudan whistled and drew its attention away long enough that he could scramble up next to the flame, raising his sword against the flicker of embers. All it gave him was a sputtering yellow light, entirely useless to him.

The Colossus snarled at him and squared off against the pedestal, trotting up to it, then ran at the last second to ram it, shifting the entire thing. Faulklin swore as he toppled forward thanks to the momentum and off the top of it, landing on the Colossus' armored back.

A teal glow met his eyes as the Colossus staggered, and _between_ the armor plating, he saw it: the orangey fur beneath and the glyph. His eyes widened as he realized.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding!"

The Colossus roared and spun around as it came back to full awareness and felt the boy on its back, shaking itself violently. It spied a piece of wood with the ends still lightly on-fire and groaned unpleasantly, whirling fully around to charge away to another corner and simultaneously tossing Faulklin. The boy let out a gust of air as he hit the floor, staggering to get to his feet. His eye glanced back at the safety of the space near the fire, then the Colossus, which had whirled around and eyed him hungrily.

They stared each other down for a moment, but the Lion had no desire to wait any longer and charged.

Faulklin leapt fully to his feet and sprinted for safety. Daijoudan whistled to grab the Colossus' attention, but it had no effect, the beast more occupied with who was immediately before it. Faulklin was quick, one of his better assets, but the Colossus quicker.

He darted for the space between another one of the braziers, but the beast cut him off and threw its head, hitting him full-on like a battering ram. He felt the blow itself, then fluttered back through delirium against the floor after his consciousness slipped with the sharp _crack_ of his body against the wall behind him. His head rang loudly in a static hum, then sharp but muffled nonsense, like hearing something from underwater.

His single eye cracked half-open, assaulted with blurs of brown, grey, gold, and red, some stationary and others moving, albeit slowly. He felt the cool floor beneath his side, then he didn't, and then something ripping, but darkness claimed him before pain could even set in.

* * *

Shit! _Shit!_

Daijoudan didn't only see Faulklin hit the rock wall, he _heard_ it, the sharp twang of bones fracturing and snapping, of flesh tearing lacerations where the bones split or the rough stone cut.

He leapt the gap and charged, yelling for the Colossus' attention, but it wasn't through, taking no chances that the barer of the sacred sword might still draw breath as it took a few good steps back, then charged for the boy's still form again and gave a sharp twist of its head to catch him with one of those sabre tusks protruding from its jowls, easily ripping open flesh from hip-to-ribs and many of the organs in between.

The Colossus whirled on him now and Daijoudan skidded to a halt, watching the best and drawing in several steadying breaths as both he and it squared off. Just like with Faulklin, the Colossus charged at him now, and Daijoudan darted aside and into the space between the pedestal and wall, scaling up.

The Lion roared displeasure and ran across the arena to gain distance and speed to ram the brazier once again, assured that it didn't have to worry about the other boy now, which was more than true at this point. Daijoudan braced himself as the Colossus charged and rammed the structure, stunning itself, but not long enough for Daijoudan to leap down and go to Faulklin's aid.

Angry that it hadn't knocked him off like it had with Faulklin, it backed up and charged again with more force, and Daijoudan heard something audible break, the thin stone legs of the structure in the front snapping and causing it to tilt, but not fall. Still intent to make sure that it caused death upon both its foes, the Colossus backed up for a third go and charged, this time causing the pedestal to fall forward. Daijoudan leapt diagonally away from it, the embers of the pit scattered over the back of the armored Colossus.

It howled a sound more akin to terror than pain and quickly backpedaled, shaking the flames away and running to the far side of its arena in fright. Daijoudan's silver eyes lingered over the flames in calculation, only sparing it a few seconds before he leapt towards the fire and managed to pull a piece of smoldering wood from it where the fire had yet to burn, running after the Colossus.

No use wasting the knowledge that this thing was scared absolutely shitless of fire.

The beast groaned and cowered away from the flame, backing away. Daijoudan spied the open cliff behind where they had first seen the temple between the pillars and steered it that way, hoping it would either be too dumb or too frightened to notice. Just as he hoped, its back legs slipped over the edge, the creature looking panicked for a moment and clawing for purchase, before it fell, landing on its spine on a ledge further down that snapped the armor on its back, then landing atop its belly after that further down on the dry part of the lakebed, unmoving.

Wasting not even a moment, he dropped the piece of wood and ran back to where Faulklin lay, knees striking stone, but he ignored the sting.

He was hesitant to even _touch_ the kid, his eyes scouring over his wounds. A small puddle of blood formed from a trickle coming off the back of Faulklin's head, and another from the corner of his lips. Much larger was the pool forming from his abdomen where the Colossus' fangs had cleaved him open and left his intestines in tatters. That was far from the worst of it though.

A sick feeling settled in the man's gut as he caught sight of the severed arteries that were quickly pumping out the teen's lifeblood, his breathing shallow and faltering and already-pale skin almost impossibly white now.

" _Fuck!_ You damn idiot!" he hissed, even as he drew his white sword from its sheath, silently willing for the power imbued into it by the white dragon, You, one of the primary deities of his country. It might be too late, but he'd be damned if he wasn't going to at least try.

The blade shone faintly in response to his will, but when the blade pierced, Faulklin screamed and writhed, and the contact between the two was a hiss of white-against-black. Daijoudan's eyes widened in surprise, this being the first time he'd seen anyone react to the _healing_ property of the sword before, but when Faulklin hacked even more blood, he pulled the weapon free. Faulklin stilled again, but nothing about his condition had changed.

He was at a loss. Faulklin was bleeding out too fast, his blade wouldn't heal, and the Colossus was still alive and probably recovering to come after them again by now.

Cursing and feeling utterly helpless to do anything that would matter, he carefully picked the kid up and moved him into one of the stone cubbies containing the pedestals of fire, where he would at least be out of the way of the Colossus, his mind racing with possibilities and _what if_ 's on how to resolve this problem before those chances slipped away.

The only thing he could think of that might still save Faulklin's life was if he slew the Colossus himself and finished it. Perhaps his wounds would seal, then, but it was a gamble, and time was increasingly fleeting.

What if Faulklin died before he could slay the Colossus? Would its shadow choose him as a host instead? And what of those that were still within Faulklin? He had no intention of becoming a vessel for those _things_ , but neither did he fancy the idea of throwing his hands up and letting a child - not even if they were completely fucking psychotic - die in such a manner. Not if he had any way to prevent it, and even if he failed, at least he couldn't say that he hadn't tried.

As if on cue, he heard the gallop of the Colossus, its impact with the ground as it leapt back into its square ring, and snarl as it tried to search out its prey.

Swiftly taking Faulklin's sword from his side and scaling up onto the pedestal, he held the sacred sword in one hand and his white blade in the other, barking out for its attention, "Hey!"

The Lion roared and shook its head as it ran to ram the pedestal with a vengeance, and Daijoudan leapt off just before the beast could impact to land on its back, thrusting downward with his white blade and lodging it deep inside the monster. The Colossus howled pain and staggered, shaking itself to rid the assaulter on its shoulders, but Daijoudan used his white blade as a handle to keep from being thrown.

Unsatisfied that it had failed to be rid of him, the Colossus sprinted across its isolated territory and then skidded to a halt, trying to buck him forward. Daijoudan answered it by plunging the sacred sword down into the middle of the glyph, making the beast jolt in pain.

Now using both swords to hold on, he adjusted how he perched, kneeling with one leg against the center of its back and bracing the foot of his other against one of its stone pauldrons. As it took off again, he pulled the sacred sword loose and plunged it downward again, making the creature falter and buck, shaking violently, but the man had already found a good center to keep from being tossed between the traction of his legs against its shoulders and grip on his own sword through its back.

Figuring out that only shaking itself too and fro was not working, the beast tried to ram him against the wall, but he angled to the side and lessened its effect, taking another jab while the best was still stunned by its own force. The jab after that was what brought about its end, the Colossus sputtering to a stop on its feet as its eyes went dark, then slowly collapsing sideways.

Daijoudan pulled both his own and the sacred swords loose as shadows enveloped the slain monster and the shadowy tendrils which escaped it sought out Faulklin. Daijoudan was soon to follow them, checking to see if the kid still drew breath. The amount of blood suggested he should already be dead, but he breathed, and through the open cavity of his abdomen, the man could see the wounds slowly stitching.

Not fast enough, if he were to guess, but by all rights, Faulklin should have already died many times over in the past few days alone.

What was even more concerning than the wounds themselves though, now that he got a good look at what was truly happening _internally,_ was that his body didn't look right. His blood was too dark, bordering more on the side of black than brown or red, and his organs - those that still remained in-tact - looked sickly. He had seen enough corpses and battle wounds in his time to discern the difference, thanks to the ongoing war between his country and this one, and many of _those_ had looked better than Faulklin's own did now.

The shadows from the slain Colossus were keeping him alive and closing his wounds, but just as he had said before, it was unnatural. The body wasn't meant to take the amount of damage Faulklin had throughout _several_ fights and survive. It was even less meant to be damaged and healed so quickly and repeatedly. And for his sword to _wound_ when it was supposed to heal?

By all technicalities, Faulklin _might_ not truly be alive. He could be little more than a puppet by this point, Dormin - the being who shepherded the souls of the dead - might simply be withholding death until the end.

Because, as Daijoudan had speculated before, Dormin had a motive for striking his deal with Faulklin.


	18. The Basilisk above the Falls

The wind was louder than was usual as Faulklin stirred, and he thought he heard a crackle like a fire. Maybe it was merely somewhat of a stormy day and the royal prick had settled to making something to eat. There was no light beaming down on him as per the usual when they went back to the Shrine, but perhaps Daijoudan had set him down in the shadows. It seemed likely.

Somewhere distant, an eagle chattered, and closer, Khu croaked softly, the sound bouncing off the walls. The smell was as musty as always, but tainted by the faint scent of blood. The sound of the horses was absent, but he guessed they might be outside grazing.

His eyes fluttered open, but at first all he saw was blurred darkness of blacks, greys, and browns. The shadows at the corner of his vision slowly receded, and he caught a hint of glow off to the side, met with two lifted, glowing spots of gold and orange, like a great pair of flickering eyes. He might have startled if he didn't already smell the smoke and dry heat coming off them. He turned his head slowly to the other side, one lifted flame like before but the second was spilled on the ground and reduced to dying embers. There was also a shape, steadily coming into focus, that looked like a chiseled stone with the bottom melted straight into the floor.

Many beats passed before he realized this was the corpse of the Colossus that he hadn't remembered slaying. He tried to think back through events, but it was a blur.

He slid his elbows beneath him against the stone, which took far too much effort, and pushed himself to sit up. _That_ was clearly a mistake on his part as pain assaulted his torso like the sudden weight of a landslide and he fell back against the ground, gasping sharply like a beached fish. His ears rung and there was a noise through the sudden haze of agony that he soon realized was a voice. His own was raw and raspy, but still somewhat audible.

"What?"

"I _said_ don't you dare fucking move," Daijoudan repeated impatiently. "I'm not putting your insides back a second time!"

Faulklin rolled his head in the direction of the man with confusion knitting his brows, before tracing a hand to his tightly bandaged abdomen. "Back inside...?"

"You _should_ be dead," Daijoudan growled, though not with anger. There was, however, a notable wariness about him that the boy didn't particularly like. Not for the pure fact that it was Daijoudan but for some other, unidentified reason. "Your body is repairing itself faster than should be physically possible, but the blood loss alone should have done you in."

Faulklin only hummed and settled with a sigh. Even as stubborn as he was, he was in too bad of shape to move yet, but from what the man said, he shouldn't have to wait long. Even so, he was unhappy at not having even left where they last battled.

"Why're we still here?" he rasped, Daijoudan having settled as well now that he was sure the boy wasn't going to be stubborn. At least, not for the moment.

"There was no way to move you, in your shape. Don't forget, even _before_ we head back to the Shrine of that being, there's a swim and a climb up to the desert first."

Faulklin nodded understanding, but trying to remember in the meantime only drew a blank. "What happened?"

"The Colossus knocked you against a wall and just about cleaved you in half with one of those fanged tusks. A lot of your lower organs were shredded or ripped out of place, and it severed at least a couple of your arteries." Which still amazed him that Faulklin had even survived long enough for him to slay the Colossus, much less for the boy's wounds to heal. He might have had six or so hours with his other organs damaged, but his arteries? He should have died within five minutes if he was _lucky_.

"And you killed the Colossus?"

" _Tch_. As if you left me much of a damn choice."

Faulklin laughed roughly, then melted into a cough that faintly stained his lips reddish-black. "You could have just turned and gone back to your country. Left me to die."

Daijoudan was silent for a long moment, appearing to contemplate something. "Weren't you the one who said those who sit by and do nothing or turn away are equally guilty as those who actively commit wrongs?"

"This was my choice," Faulklin pointed out.

"You can't be trusted to make choices that aren't stupid," Daijoudan snorted, leaning his back against the wall and glancing outside, where the sun barely kissed the top of the gorge and the dark forms of both their horses. "Besides, it isn't a choice you would have made if not for what Emon did, and Emon wouldn't have killed Komeko if not for the fact he was doing it to defy me. This is my fault and my problem to correct as well."

Faulklin hummed acknowledgement. Of all the things he hated about the man, at least he couldn't say that Daijoudan was unaccountable or irresponsible, when it came to owning up to the consequences of his actions. Especially since he easily could have been by pulling rank to put himself outside of fault, as those in a position of power often did.

"I tried using my white blade to keep your dumb ass from dying, but instead it just did more damage," Daijoudan continued carefully, harsh eyes trained on the boy with that same intense wariness that had unsettled Faulklin when he first awoke. "It was the exact opposite effect that it was supposed to have."

"You don't say," Faulklin mused breathlessly and without concern.

Daijoudan was silent for a moment. "Have you ever heard anything about black blood?"

"What?"

"Answer the damn question."

Faulklin turned his gaze towards the ceiling in thought, grunting as his wounds panged and made it hard to breathe. He could almost _feel_ the flesh mending itself, and it was an unpleasant feeling, to say the least. " 'think I might have heard something once or twice about it," he muttered.

"Its something the people in my country know well," Daijoudan huffed. "During the reign of my ancestor, Empress Mitsuki Sanryuu, there was a siege on the city by people with blood as black as ink, possessed by demons from the wastelands to the north of the Imperial City called the Barrenscar. Some of them were even citizens of our country turned by possession. The only other time that I and my ancestors have known the white blade to hurt someone instead of heal have been those possessed, and your blood is looking far too close to black instead of red for my comfort."

"You obviously mistake me for someone who gives a damn about your comfort," Faulklin snorted.

"Well that's just too fucking bad if you don't care," Daijoudan hissed, bristling. Honestly, how could this kid be so damn apathetic to the ripples he caused? Actually, scratch that. He didn't make ripples, he made tsunami waves that would consume everything unlucky enough to end up in the path of it. "Do you even fathom just how big of a problem this is? Dormin is no God and it may have no intention of bringing Komeko back from the dead! You've sold your soul to a damned demon and don't even care enough to think on that fact!"

Faulklin laughed faintly, sarcastic smile turning to a grimace as pain wracked his torso once more. "You assume I actually have a soul to sell!"

"Don't give me that shit," Daijoudan growled. "You wouldn't _be_ here risking everything for someone else's sake if that held any truth. There's nothing but approval to be gained out of your mission here, and that's assuming you even survive long enough to get it. Both of us know that."

"Or perhaps you put too much faith in me," Faulklin countered, pushing himself up to sit, already out of breath from the effort.

"There are only two reasons that people do something like this, and I've had a lot of time to ponder over which one it is," Daijoudan stated, having to force himself not to shout in frustration at the boy's pessimistic, self-degrading stubbornness. "One possibility is that you get some sort of ulterior gain out of all of this, but that would be contingent on surviving, and we both already knew the chances of you even making it this far. The other is selflessness. I know you can't be bothered to lift even a finger for your own sake, but for Mamoru, you'd move mountains. You're so focused on making him happy that you don't even pay attention to what you're doing to yourself, not even when _demons_ are possessing your body and rotting you from the inside out."

"Are you done?" Faulklin heaved, looking more annoyed than thoughtful or concerned by the man's words, even going so far as to roll his eye. "I told you, it doesn't matter."

Daijoudan pushed himself to his feet and marched towards the boy, wrenching him off the ground by his collar, eyes becoming slits.

"Listen you belligerent little piss-ant! This concerns more than just you! You don't know whether you're even going to get what you came for if you succeed at slaying all sixteen of the Colossus! What you're doing might even endanger others, including the man you care so much about. Did you ever once stop to consider that?"

"You sure do... _nngh_... like to hear yourself talk, don't you?" Faulklin wheezed, returning the glare. "All of it is just _what if_ 's. I don't have the luxury of time to worry about those. I only have five left to go. I'm not stopping now, no matter what you say about it. Not when I'm this close." Faulklin had a grip on the man's wrist and gave it a harsh twist, the silverette hissing pained surprise as he was forced to let go.

Faulklin stumbled when he landed back on his feet, but he stayed standing, breathing a bit too hard. The younger still managed a condescending glare, then turned and started to walk.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Daijoudan demanded, though he made no moves to stop the lad. His wrist was still throbbing, might have even been sprained by the unusual strength of the boy, but he knew at least that it wasn't broken or fractured.

"Back to my horse. Time is running short."

"Your body isn't healed yet," Daijoudan pointed out lamely, somewhat distracted by his own thoughts.

"By the time we reach the next Colossus, it probably will be," Faulklin huffed, not looking back as he slid down into the small trench leading out to the gorge. Daijoudan merely sighed and followed in silence, not having the patience to insist any longer. If Faulklin was determined to go rushing to his doom, fine. Let him.

Faulklin was glad for the silence, and that Daijoudan wasn't much of a conversationalist, outside of their spats anyway. Plus, he needed to focus on just walking and keeping himself from making noises of pain, forcing his breathing and steps steady, which was far easier said than done. The swim was beyond unpleasant, taking far too much effort, but he at least managed to keep his head above water until he reached the winding path back up the cliff.

He was out of breath and felt as if he wanted to throw up all of his insides by the time they reached the top of the cliff - it was a lot steeper than he remembered when they went down it earlier - steady breathing forgotten in favor of just trying to breathe at all, but he didn't complain, and Daijoudan didn't say anything or dote. Another small thing Faulklin was secretly glad of, even as he heaved himself up into Rebel's saddle and collapsed over the dark animal's neck.

Nudging Rebel's ribs, he trusted the animal to know to take them back to the Shrine by now. And if it didn't, at least Daijoudan could lead the way. He closed his eyes and tried to rest as they rode at a slow canter towards the great structure, unconcerned with whatever else was around them and their surroundings.

Perhaps it was simply his disorientation, the way that his ears were ringing as the desert wind blew, but he could have almost sworn there was a dull whisper in his head, like the muffled hiss of a snake.

* * *

_**"Thy next foe is... Paradise floats upon the lake... A silent being wields thunder... A moving bridge to cross to higher ground."** _

* * *

"Another damn lake," Faulklin growled, sitting astride his saddle and scowling unpleasantly. "I'm getting really tired of water."

"The world is full of water," Daijoudan rebuked. "Get used to it and shut up."

From the Shrine, they'd ridden east towards Avion's lake, then north through two cylindrical pillars of green-ivory colored bricks that stood vigil just before a winding bridge of natural stone carved by water and wind.

Briefly stopping at another small wayshrine, Faulklin held up his sword, which pointed straight ahead of them at a long bridge-like structure with a pair of wide arches, a waterfall cascading to the inland sea below that separated them from it. Somewhere ahead and to their left was another natural bridge with tall, off-white pillars, beckoning the way to reach it.

Following that path led them to a small, heavily forested alcove, veiled by mist. White birds fluttered through the trees above, the first signs of forest life they'd seen since arriving. Following the overgrown path of stone, they headed for where there was a break in the trees, allowing light to pour in. That, unfortunately, ended at a cliff with a small pair of falls from a narrow river channel disappearing into a deep chasm below, of which no light could reach the bottom.

Across the way from them was more forest, but no further structures to indicate the lair of a Colossus. So far there was always some kind of trail marker to tell them where to go, and neither saw reason in that suddenly stopping to make things more difficult.

While they stopped to figure out their course, Daijoudan took his while to glance at Faulklin, trying to gauge his state of being. The boy seemed somewhat disoriented, beyond simply being physically lost. Sure, he looked _healed_ as far as his wounds went, but he didn't look good. He appeared unfocused, his eyes sunken and dark, and his skin far too white, even for his already pale complexion. It wasn't just white, however. If he scrutinized hard enough, he thought he could almost see lines of grey just beneath the skin. Branching lines, not blue, but grey, and in places where he shouldn't be seeing a webbing of small veins.

He held his tongue, however. Faulklin wouldn't listen, and Daijoudan didn't like to indulge in pointless efforts.

They turned and headed further into the small forest, almost doubling back on their path to find the exit, which stood parallel to the one they'd first rode in on. It took them out onto a cliff path that hugged the mountainside, winding sharply and forcing them to watch their speed, unless they wanted to tumble over the edge. The dull roar of steep falls filled their ears. Another small wayshrine was built straight into the mountainside. Their path was cut short by a massive boulder that had fallen onto the pathway long ago and situated itself between the cliff itself and another large white pillar that sat right on the edge of the falls.

"Well isn't this wonderful," Faulklin snarked unhappily.

The falls were cut by three stone slabs that partially stuck over the edge of a man-made dam, overlooking the sea, but they were too far and high to jump to from where they were, and the boulder too smooth to climb. Around the pillar on this side of the falls, however - another on the far other side - was a lip he could probably use to shimmy all the way around to the other side of the path. Assuming the ledge wasn't too slippery.

The thought made Faulklin glance over the falls grimly. He really didn't fancy falling to his death. Or falling into the sea and surviving either. Or possibly drowning.

_Better just not fall then._

Taking a moment to simply breathe and steady his nerves, then jumped up to grab the ledge. It took far more effort than he expected, his insides churning unpleasantly once more, but he ignored it and pressed on until he'd managed to reach the path and drop onto his feet on solid ground, glad that it had worked. The next problem was the lake itself.

Beyond the bridge-like structure they had seen from across the sea, now he could also spot small stone pagodas. Some were nothing but a stone circle sitting atop the water's surface. Others had a stone roof, held up by several pillars, like tables made of carved white rock. There was no sign of any Colossus, but he was sure that would quickly change.

Walking as far as the path went, Faulklin jumped down into the water, the cold shock immediately causing him to shiver unpleasantly. If the swim back from the Lion's - _Celosia's_ \- territory had been difficult, this time was _torturous_ , even though he was sure the last of his wounds were stitching, if not done healing entirely already. The water was much deeper and the swim longer. Still no sign of the Colossus, but that didn't serve to put the boy's mind at ease, listening for any signs of the beast and hoping it wouldn't try to ambush him from the depths.

Especially after his ordeal with Hydrus and another suggestion that lightning might be involved, as if the first time wasn't bad enough. He was getting extremely tired of Colossus that dealt in lightning bolts, and his fight had yet to even begin.

When they finally reached the first pagoda, Faulklin didn't even feel as if he had the strength to climb it, instead half-dragging himself onto the platform to rest and catch his breath. The scant rays of sunlight that managed to reach them didn't help quell his shivering.

"Are you going to be able to do this?" Daijoudan questioned as he reached it as well, unconcerned, but waiting for an answer. Faulklin nodded, taking his time to regain his composure enough for the fight that was soon to come.

"Just give me a moment. Swimming is still really difficult." More than he thought it should rightly be, but he didn't spare it much thought beyond that it was a hindrance. When he felt able, he climbed up onto the pagoda fully, glancing about. They didn't have to wait long, hearing the churn of previously calm water just before a massive, algea-covered shape began to rise from the depths.

The Colossus' face was a rounded, eyeless temple, the center indented so that it appeared to have a brow and lower lip as a ledge jutting out, with forward-curling horns from the side of its head that glowed with a blue light. Around the top ringed edge of its stone face appeared to be white boulders with glowing roots, almost like teeth, creating a crown. At first, it appeared almost serpentine in nature, before a stone-pauldron shoulder breached the surface of the lake, a massive leg underneath the water crunching down with enough force to rattle the pagoda they stood on. A small tsunami wave arose as a fully bulked chest, covered in stone like a breastplate, emerged as well. It appeared to have longer front legs, almost like a gorilla, that kept its chest and head above water, while its back sloped at an angle and rear side disappeared entirely beneath the water.

On the plus side, at least the boy already knew how he was going to reach its head.

"Your plan?" Daijoudan prompted.

"If I can get behind it, I can climb up its back to its head."

Daijoudan merely nodded, and both tensed as its horns lit up, crackling with electricity, and ducked behind a short lump of stone that proved sufficient enough to keep from getting hit by its projectile blasts.

"Stay here," Daijoudan ordered, springing up when he was sure the immediate danger had passed and leaping into the water, shouting at the Colossus for its attention and kicking off to swim. The beast bellowed angrily at the intruder and immediately began to walk after him, its underwater steps rattling the pagoda Faulklin still hid on.

Faulklin couldn't help but be glad for his slight size at the moment as the Colossus appeared to miss his existence entirely and pursued Daijoudan as the man swam, sending another energy blast at the silverette. For a moment, the brunette simply watched, waiting to see what sort of effect the blasts would have. In the fight with Hydrus, it had filled all of the surrounding water with electrical currents, but that didn't appear to be the case this time, even though the blasts came close to hitting Daijoudan.

When he was certain the Colossus wouldn't notice him, Faulklin stood and dashed across the platform, leaping as far as he could out into the water and swimming for its submerged backside.

Thoroughly annoyed with the effort of swimming and the taste of overgrown lake water by the time he _finally_ managed to reach his target, he started to have some doubts about the beast's weak points when he climbed onto the first ridge of its back, which was hard as granite beneath him and tinted an orangey shade with dull patterns etched in. There were breaks in the flat of its back on either side, like plats, and he was realizing now that it was probably a turtle shell, just like when they had fought Basaran in the geyser field.

Its back was ridged in small hills that rose and fell, making climbing a little more difficult than he had hoped, though the plants finding root on its surface helped him to scale up.

The Colossus paused in its chase of Daijoudan, who was taking shelter amongst one of the pagodas with the stone porticos, and shook itself back and forth to rid itself of the smaller boy on its back. Faulklin would have liked to ignore it and climb higher, but the movements were too violent and the surface of its shell too slick even with the plants, so he waited for the shaking and rolling to pass before proceeding towards its head.

He drew his sword, looking for a glyph, but nothing appeared. He tried holding up his blade to the light, to figure out where it was, but the Colossus moved about too much for him to keep his footing on the slippery plant life.

"Hurry it up, dumb ass!" Daijoudan shouted.

"There's no glyph!" Faulklin snarled in return.

"That's impossible! It has to be there somewhere, so _find it_!" the man rebuked just before ducking behind a pillar as the Colossus fired more blasts at him.

Faulklin tried to stand and raise his sword again, but lost his footing and fell backward against one of the tooth-like protrusions on the top of its head, the Colossus bellowing and lunging forward through the lake blindly, sending a spray of water behind it, then tried bucking him off.

Faulklin cursed and flattened himself down, waiting for the movements to become less and standing, only with the same results.

"Damn it!" he swore, taking a frustrated side-swing into another one of the toothed crown. The Colossus bellowed once more and swung to that side abruptly. Faulklin blinked surprise. He hadn't thought much of running into one before and the Colossus lunging, but now that he _did_ think about it...

The sun reached the top of some of the stone pagodas. If he could reach the top of one, perhaps then he could figure out where the weak points were. That in mind, he stood on wobbly legs as the Colossus continued to shift beneath him and aimed a solid kick against one of the `teeth` atop its head, making the Colossus bellow once more in pain and head in that direction.

When the neared, he launched himself across and barely managed to grab and climb the ledge, dashing behind a small, short pillar of stone that stood at the center to dodge a charged blast of electricity. When the attack passed, he ran out from behind it and raised his sword to the light, the beams pointing to somewhere beneath its chest.

"Wonderful! They're fucking underwater," Faulklin hissed, tensing as he saw the Colossus turn its attention on him and crouch, ready to pounce, and rose up onto its shorter hind legs. His eye widened as either of its front hooves crunched on top of the pagoda structure, and far too conveniently, exposed a flesh lump on its underbelly between distended rib walls where a glyph faintly began to glow in the near-presence of the sword.

"Well... thanks for making it easy on me." Faulklin grinned maliciously and darted forward, leaping across and grabbing the mossy fur of its underbelly plunging his sword into it. The Colossus spasmed in pain and bellowed, throwing its head up. A black spray of ink accompanied removing the blade, and he stabbed deeply into it once more.

Pushing off the pagoda, the Colossus crashed back into the water, the impact making him lose his grip and have to surface, swimming for the pagoda and climbing up onto it to hide behind a pillar. He heard the crackle of electricity building up between its horns, but the blasts were too weak to break past the stone and hit him, so he willfully ignored them.

Whistling to draw its attention, he waited until it tried to poke its head in and find him, before dashing out, leaping up and grasping onto its lip-like jaw at the same moment it flipped its head back in surprise. Waiting for it to stop trying to throw him off, he jumped to a higher ledge and climbed onto its head once more, striking the stone crown to steer it towards the pagoda, then vaulted across the gap of air and rolled as he hit it, diving for cover from its next charge attack.

When it dumbly rose out of the water and exposed its weak point once more, he leapt across the space and grabbed hold, plunging his sword in another two times before it retreated into the water heavily again, but Faulklin refused to let go now that he was prepared this time, even as the pressure of being shoved twenty feet under far too quickly made his ears pop painfully and his lungs feel weighted as if anvils sat upon his chest.

He heard a loud, crackling _boom_ above and heavy things plunging into the lake, but didn't even bother to look, instead holding on tightly to the blade still lodged in the Colossus' belly. The need for air at such depth was immediately overwhelming, but he ignored it, twisting his sword as he removed it from the glowing weak point, and plunging it in again, with less success as he'd had above water owing to the water drag.

Determined, he put as much force as he could and pushed it deeper, twisting viciously and hearing the beast roar above him in anguish. Black blood clouded the water like a spray of octopus ink, making it entirely impossible to see, but he didn't need to. Even in the thick cloud, he could make out the glow of the glyph that had yet to disappear, dislodging his blade, and plunging it in for the final time.

The glyph vanished, and the Colossus thrashed and bucked upward, falling to the side and sinking.

Kicking off, Faulklin struggled to the surface, unable to hold his breath any longer. Just as he gasped and inhaled water, a hand tightened on his arm and pulled him to the surface, where he was free to sputter and inhale air instead of liquid.

"Idiot!" Daijoudan spat, paddling towards one of the nearest pagodas where they could both take proper rest. "What were you thinking?"

"It's dead, isn't it?" Faulklin retorted, gasping and coughing.

"And you could have been too!"

"Cry me a river, Emperor Egotist."

"Or I could just drown you myself, since we already have a damn lake," Daijoudan spat.

If Faulklin had a retort, it went unspoken as the shadows from the Colossus' corpse found him and disappeared inside. Even being close to them, Daijoudan's hairs prickled with a sense of involuntary alarm, but there was little to be done for it. Instead, he simply focused on returning them to solid land and the temple at the center of the forbidden lands.


	19. The Dragon skimming the Broiler

As if one nightmare wasn't bad enough, he was getting to live through two at once.

The first morning after Komeko's death, Mamoru hadn't seen hide nor hair of Faulklin anywhere, but he felt like a wraith, nothing but an aimless phantom with no strength to do anything. He assumed the boy to be off somewhere alone, grieving in his own way and not wanting to be seen. Faulklin was not a person who liked - who maybe didn't even know how - to show weakness if he could help it, and even less liked to feel that he was being a burden on his older brother even if he really wasn't.

Mamoru didn't have the energy or will to go looking for the boy at the moment though, and he trusted that Faulklin would probably return by nightfall, to snuggle up to his side where the boy usually felt safest.

Mamoru didn't see him in the night before he succumbed to sleep, and didn't find the boy there the next morning either when he awoke, nor was there any extra warmth to his bed or any visual signs to suggest the boy had even been home.

That was when he started to prickle with concern. He tried to reason that it was probably nothing. Faulklin could have slept somewhere other than the bed, maybe even gone out to see his horse, Rebel. Faulklin relaxed more with animals, so perhaps he was just spending time there instead. He didn't think Faulklin had started any sort of trouble in the village or he probably would have heard about it.

But then again... when he'd thought back to the day before, it was all a blur. He could barely remember getting up and going to bed, so was it possible he could have missed something?

No... no he was simply overthinking things, right?

Even so, it unsettled him to not have the faintest idea where the boy was, especially at a time like now. The boy was prone to self-destruction if left alone and needed to be supervised and made to know that he was cared for constantly. Komeko's death was still raw, and the wound that had been left was one Mamoru knew would never truly heal, but he could do nothing for her except hope that she was well taken care of with the Gods who her life had been given to.

He would continue to grieve for a long time, but he couldn't neglect Faulklin in the meantime either. Not unless he wanted to lose two precious younger siblings, even if the one remaining was surrogate instead of blood-related. He didn't think he could stand to lose them both.

A brief search through the village turned up nothing, and he noticed Rebel gone from the pen for the horses. He supposed the youth must have gone for a ride, but he wasn't sure how far he might have gone or when. When he asked around, no one said they had seen the boy. The knot of worry only grew, but Mamoru tried to reason it away, even as his mind was assaulted with _what if_ 's. Chief among those fears being that Faulklin may have done something drastic, or that he might have ended up in trouble even by accident and been unable to return.

Such thoughts plagued him the entire time he searched for his young charge, and it didn't help that he was turning up nothing promising to suggest Faulklin was even _in_ the village anymore.

The entire day went by without so much as a glance of the kid, and Mamoru went to bed that night fitful, stuck in torturous limbo where he could barely tell the difference between searching for the boy even in his dreams and restlessly half-waking in his bed to toss and turn with the need for proper, non-plagued sleep.

The third day was no better, and he was starting to grow truly afraid. He even went to the village leader, Emon, and asked him, regrettably coming across as almost accusatory in his worry and stress over the things that had happened recently. Emon was not happy with him and ended up shooing him away shortly.

The sixth day, when Mamoru was almost at his wits end with sick worry, Emon called upon him then, seeming much more interested all of a sudden in his question from the days before about where Faulklin had gone. The problem was that he didn't _know_. The boy could be dying in a ditch somewhere and Mamoru had no idea how to find him, not even to lay his worries to rest in the event that it was nothing he need worry about. That was when the elder finally informed him of news that made his blood run cold.

"Her body is _gone_?" He almost shrieked the words aloud. He'd lost his sister's life to their traditions, and now somehow her body had just _walked off_ on its own, and they had no idea where?! He didn't want to think it, but something in his mind kept insisting that Faulklin had something - if not _everything_ \- to do with it. "How? When?!"

"Six days, we believe," Emon stated grimly. So they didn't know for sure. "We became aware of it four days ago."

"And you said nothing about it to anyone?" Mamoru gaped. How could they not?

"We did not want to alarm anyone before we could figure out what is happening," Emon snapped impatiently, though he was mindful to keep his voice somewhat quiet. Clearly they still intended not to let it be widely known amongst the other villagers. "Six days ago was also when the Sanryuu Emperor left, allegedly to return to his own country." _Allegedly_ was clearly meant to be accusatory, though not towards Mamoru. "You say that the boy is missing too, though?"

Mamoru hesitated, then nodded.

"For how long?"

"A-at least four or five days," Mamoru muttered, his dread growing. Emon was clearly thinking somewhere along the same lines as he was. What involvement might Faulklin possibly have?

"It has also come to our attention that the sacred sword is missing from the temple," Emon added, his eyes hard and burning in withheld outrage. "For both the maiden's body and the sword to be taken..."

"No," Mamoru denied, shaking his head. "No, he couldn't possibly-"

"I believe he would _try_ ," Emon interrupted. "Though whether or not he could succeed at it is another matter." Emon paused, then reluctantly grumbled under his breath, "though he is of the Kråke, and I worry about that. There's only one way to know for sure if he has gone to commit the forbidden."

Emon brushed past him, and Mamoru couldn't help bristling at the grave implication in those words.

"Wait!" He spun around. "And what will you do if you find him?" It was no mystery to him that Faulklin's presence was not one that was well looked upon in the village. The possibility that they would kill him was not one that escaped Mamoru's attention.

"That all depends on what he has done," Emon replied, cryptically evasive.

"I'll go too." He could see that Emon was not entirely happy, but he continued none the less. "Faulklin is my responsibility. If he's gone to do as you say, I know that he only intends the best and he intends to do it for me alone. If I'm there, I could convince him that what he's doing isn't right. He'll listen to me, everyone _knows_ that."

Emon disregarded him, and turned to continue on his way. Mamoru caught his shoulder, unwilling to let the matter rest.

" _Please!_ You've already taken my sister from me, at least give me the chance to reason with him! You may think ill of him, but he's still my brother. Just let me try. This can be stopped without more bloodshed."

Emon blew out a weary, annoyed breath, but he stopped and turned his eyes back to Mamoru. "Fine. I will arrange for you as well, but I make no promises this will end without incident. It all depends on what he does."

Mamoru knew that was the best answer he could hope for at the moment and nodded, relieved but still wracked in concern. He took his hand away from Emon's shoulder, and with a last baneful look, the elder continued on his way.

It was early on the seventh day, before the sun had risen - to avoid too much suspicion from the villagers - that they left by horse: four elite guards, Emon, and Mamoru. The sound of pounding hooves felt quieter than the anxious pounding of his heart as his mind conjured so many things that could have happened and gone wrong.

_Please, don't let me lose another one!_

* * *

_**"Thy next foe is... The vast desert lands... A giant trail drifts through the sky... Thou art not alone."** _

"I think we're supposed to go to the desert near Barbas' lair," Faulklin hummed speculatively.

"Where?" Daijoudan knew that Faulklin was probably aware of what and where he was talking about, but Daijoudan couldn't quite keep all the names straight. He had a pretty good idea, he thought, but it was better to know for sure, especially where the reckless little fool was concerned.

Faulklin rolled his eye, and it didn't take mind-reading to know he was probably silently calling the silver-haired man stupid. "The desert that way," he pointed southwest, towards the forest between the Minotaur's territory and the Giant that had smashed Faulklin against a wall and almost killed him.

"Before we rush ahead, we should take some time to rest and eat. There are only four left, but I don't imagine its going to get any easier from here on out." Besides, he needed some more time to ponder what to do about Faulklin and Dormin, before the latter could potentially become a massive threat, since Faulklin clearly had no care at all for whether or not he was being used.

Faulklin hummed, not sounding all too happy, but not arguing either.

They rode out towards the small forest separating them from the desert beyond. To their immediate left, they found another Wayshrine, and like all the others before it, there was a white-tailed lizard lingering around it, wriggling through the understory of fallen leaves. Further beyond was a shallow lagoon, with the cave path leading to the desert to their far right.

Just before the desert, part of the cave opened to their left, leading down to the water through thick wild grasses. A small island of earth sat in the middle of the lagoon with a few trees rooted atop it, most of them saplings, and beyond at the far end of the water's edge was a gentle hill of thick wild grass. Both of them pulled their horses to a stop at the edge of the water, sliding down. The water only reached partway up towards Faulklin's knees, but no deeper. On the far side of the water, there was a tree up on a cliff, with thick moss scaling all the way up the rocks that looked decent enough for climbing.

"Oi, half-pint," Daijoudan addressed, motioning towards the one on the cliff. "You're on cliff-tree duty."

"And who put you in charge?" Faulklin snarked rebelliously.

"My lineage," Daijoudan returned simply and matter-of-factly. "Now get your scrawny ass moving."

Faulklin scoffed openly and gave a sweeping bow, all in mockery of course. "Right away, Emperor Egotist! May every fruit fall upon your head..." Glancing up at where Khu was flying above, he corrected, "or maybe a little something more white from the tail end."

Daijoudan more or less ignored the taunt... other than perhaps a slight glance at the sky that warned the blackbird it had better think carefully about possibly doing such a thing to him, unless it wanted to offer itself up as pre-Colossus-Battle-lunch. Mostly he focused on getting the fruit from the nearer trees, which wasn't terribly difficult.

He soon had several pieces of fruit and glanced in Faulklin's direction, where the younger boy was scaling up the cliff wall with ease, almost at the top of it. It was a tall cliff, but after seeing Faulklin scale twelve of the Colossi so many times, he was less impressed than he might have otherwise been. Compared to those, climbing up a solid, unmoving cliff wall was child's play.

He watched Faulklin gather a few fruit from the tree's branches and return also with another white-tailed lizard. Daijoudan was already working on a fire by the time the brunette reached him.

"Here," Faulklin muttered, tossing the food down next to him. He sounded oddly subdued, leading Daijoudan to cock a brow at him. Still, the only thing the brunette did was stand a ways away staring in the direction of the desert with his arms crossed over his chest. No doubt he was impatient to finish what he'd started, especially being so close to the end, with only four Colossi left.

Daijoudan ignored him in turn, not particularly caring for the youth's presence either way. So long as Faulklin didn't go running ahead of him, there was nothing to worry about except for cooking lizards and enjoying a fleeting moment of peace and quiet.

Surprisingly enough, it was Khu who drew his attention, the crow landing in the grass not far away and tilting its head at the food he was cooking and fruit that he was occasionally snacking on in the meantime. When it seemed to decide he was too dull to understand what it wanted - though that much was obvious - it croaked at him in demand, unwilling to come any closer.

It didn't stay put long enough for him to even decide whether or not he was going to give it anything, the bird taking to the air and away as Faulklin paced to and fro impatiently, not paying much attention to his surroundings. Daijoudan might not have otherwise thought much of it, but Faulklin had a tendency to keep a closer eye on things, almost to an obsessive level. As snarky and blatantly suicidal the boy could be, he was also fearful.

There was also the matter of Dormin and the shadows that used his body as a vessel. Daijoudan knew he was going to need to keep an eye on the boy. There was no telling what might happen as a result of his actions.

"Stop fidgeting," Daijoudan barked impatiently. The brunette's restlessness was starting to get on his nerves.

"Fuck you," Faulklin hissed in return. Still, the words lacked the usual bite, and Faulklin rubbed his temples as if he might've had a migraine coming on. Then he suddenly stopped. "Do you hear that?"

"What, your stupidity? Difficult to miss." Maybe he should be taking the question a little more seriously, but he couldn't seem to help himself. He was long ago irritated with this entire venture.

"No, pretty sure that's your own you're hearing," Faulklin rebuked lamely.

"Really now? Name _one_ intelligent thought you've had this entire fucking journey."

"Alright, here's one:" Faulklin stated, rolling his eye. "You have a name that means _great_ to overcompensate," he paused to hold up a pinky finger, "because you're actually quite small."

Daijoudan stared at him for a long moment, calculating. He could get angry and lash out, but what would be the fun in that? Finally he rebuked, "Large enough not to be taken for a girl."

Something about that was clearly the wrong thing to say because Faulklin's single eye flashed with an inhuman level of fury, the shorter male leaping at him already armed with his sword with no warning at all.

If he hadn't been so thoroughly trained in combat, Daijoudan might have lost his head, quite literally, but he managed to leap up and parry the sword off to the side. Even so, he barely made it.

Normally, he wouldn't think much of the encounter. He and Faulklin fought all the time, and it more often than not involved swords. The second incoming swing that he blocked though had enough force behind it to stagger him and make his arms ache with effort. It was no accident or trick of the mind, either. The next few swings were the same way. It was like trying to fence with an elephant and its tusks.

Daijoudan was so focused on preventing one of those hits to land that he barely noticed back-stepping into the shallow water of the lagoon.

Faulklin managed to slice his side a good inch or two in, but all the same, there was no smug look or prideful sneer, only blind, frenzied rage and an intent to kill so thick it rolled off him in waves that choked the air around them.

Daijoudan _tsk_ ed and whirled around behind the brunette, tripping him up in the process and letting the kid fall with an audible splash. As soon as Faulklin landed, he pinned the kid under one knee and lodged his white sword through Faulklin's wrist, the same side as he gripped his own sword. A plume of bubbles and muffled sound announced a scream of pain, and Daijoudan felt the conflicting pulse travel up his blessed sword.

He grabbed a fistful of brown hair and pulled Faulklin's head above water, so at least he wasn't drowning the boy.

"You need to calm down," Daijoudan ordered sharply. Normally he wouldn't care at all how riled Faulklin was - as a matter of fact, he got enjoyment out of it most times - but this went far beyond their usual spats. Something in him utterly snapped, and he wasn't even sure if it was Faulklin acting or whatever shadows had come out of the Colossi's corpses taking control and possessing him.

Faulklin hacked water and snarled, twisting his head around as much as was humanly possible to glare out of the corner of his eye. "Get the fuck off me!"

"Maybe once you stop acting like an impulsive little shit, I will," Daijoudan returned.

Faulklin wriggled under him, and it was almost a surprise that the kid managed to throw him off, as if Daijoudan was the smaller one between them.

The moment Faulklin flipped over and lunged at him, Daijoudan ran his white blade through the kid's abdomen. It wouldn't kill him, but the pain would at least cripple him for long enough that Daijoudan could regain his barings, and maybe that Faulklin would cool his head in the meantime.

The entry point sizzled and Faulklin doubled over, gasping and reeling. Daijoudan got to his feet and put some distance between them, watching to see if the boy would get up and attack again anyway, but the silver-haired man's attack had been effective enough in stopping his advance. Daijoudan couldn't help but scoff, turning and walking back to the fire.

He didn't want to admit it, but there was a part of him that seriously feared Faulklin now. Made his whole body instinctively prickle in warning.

Maybe that was inaccurate. It wasn't so much Faulklin, at least he didn't think so. It was more whatever was happening to the brat ever since he started this insane journey.

The lunatic had always been volatile, and it wasn't as if they'd never fought seriously before, but it never grew to be _that_ ugly. Maybe it wasn't from lack of trying. Daijoudan rarely lost a fight. Faulklin was fully capable and willing to murder under the right circumstances, but it had seemed like he had been getting better over the years under Mamoru's care.

He had been stabilizing.

The current stress and involvement was probably doing more than just helping to make him regress, but it went beyond only that. Being away from Mamoru was bad for Faulklin. Thinking about doing this task _for_ the man wasn't enough to keep him anchored, and he was becoming less focused. Less held together.

And Faulklin coming unraveled was _dangerous_. To himself and to everyone around him.

With Mamoru, Faulklin was like a semi-feral animal, trusting only one or two and being skittish and aggressive of the rest. Without Mamoru, he went beyond simply being feral and went rabid. Rabid and suicidal were not a combination Daijoudan wanted to deal with. Framkly, he didn't have the patience, and the semi-unknown factor that was Dormin put him far too much on edge.

At the very least, when Faulklin regained himself, he wasn't radiating murderous intent. Even so, Daijoudan didn't sheathe his white blade just yet. He didn't trust the younger male not to stab him when he was unprepared.

Faulklin shook dripping hair and cast a glare in Daijoudan's direction, but was (surprisingly enough) the first to sheathe his sword and wander off towards Rebel. Even the horse that normally trusted him unquestioningly danced away from the boy, angling its ears at him uncertainly. Faulklin stopped, still as a statue for a while, before extending his hand slightly towards the stallion. Rebel uncertainly sniffed his hand and shifted with unease.

So it wasn't only him that was getting leery of Faulklin. At least he knew he wasn't imagining it now.

Faulklin stepped towards Rebel's side and managed to climb up into his saddle even as the horse side-stepped slightly, still nervous.

Daijoudan sighed through his nose and sheathed his sword, putting out the fire and quickly gathering up what food they'd gathered to store for later. He didn't feel like arguing with Faulklin to stay put and he didn't fancy getting into another potentially deadly match either.

They road out through the tunnel they'd first arrived in, continuing on their way until the blinding desert opened up ahead of them, sand blown by the wind creating a golden miasma. At the top of a hill covered in dead grass and scraggly brush, Faulklin unsheathed his sword and held it up to the sky. The blade seemed to suck all of the light from the sky and its beams pointed straight to a circle of stone and arches, somewhere below.

So this Colossus was underground, and somehow Daijoudan didn't think they'd find it at the end of a passage. He still remembered the tenth colossus - the sand wyrm - that had given them so much trouble before and its glaring red eyes. He didn't suspect this one would be much easier or any less dangerous than that one, and there was almost no cover throughout the entirety of the desert. Only open sand underneath glaring sun. If this battle became another contest of speed, then Faulklin's horse was not going to last easily. Even his own longer-legged Ayametsuki would have trouble outpacing anything in such thick sand and heat.

Without a word, Faulklin turned Rebel down the hill and rode to the stone circle, Daijoudan following a few paces behind. If something happened, he wanted to be well out of the way of the idiot, especially since Colossi seemed drawn more to the sword that Faulklin carried. No surprise since it seemed to be the only thing capable of mortally wounding them.

Nothing happened as they were traveling, but as soon as Faulklin and Rebel stepped onto the stone circle, the sand began to shift and the weathered stone columns rattled and cracked like old joints, both horses dancing with alarm. Daijoudan was watching for movement of something he needed to avoid, but it was on the other side of the sand, right in front of where Faulklin was facing that something emerged.

The shape shot straight up out of the sand like a well-drawn arrow, spilling a cascade of sand as it went from a long, snake-like form of gold and white. The beast whistled a high-pitched shriek as it corkscrewed straight up for what must have been a full mile into the sky. Along its sides splayed various spines that Daijoudan realized a moment later were stabilizers as it leveled out and glided high in the air, the wind easily carrying it as if it were weightless.

It defied belief, but Daijoudan had quickly been losing his ability to be surprised.

It twisted in the air and flew in a circle, large white bubbles on its underside undulating. The huge serpent chirred deeply, the sound reverberating across the entire desert. It dropped lower so it was only a couple hundred feet above the ground and overshot them, snaking its way through the air above the desert and acting as though it had no care for them. Both males were on edge that it was simply getting into a better position to attack them, or perhaps waiting for them to leave the stone circle.

"How is it flying like that?" Faulklin wondered aloud.

"Those bubbles on its belly, I think," Daijoudan speculated. The more he looked at it, the more he concluded that it was a dragon, similar to the form of the dragon gods that his family was named after. "See how they move? They're probably filled with some kind of gas keeping it aloft. This desert too... its easier to fly somewhere with so much rising heat."

Faulklin gave him a look as if he made that all up. Daijoudan pointedly ignored it.

" 'guess we're going to have to lure it down here then," Faulklin muttered, sheathing his sword and instead taking out his bow and arrows, nudging Rebel out onto the sands after the Dragon that was carelessly floating along above the desert. "Or knock it down."

They road straight towards it, the Colossus turning in the air in their direction. Daijoudan eyed its plow-nose, wondering if it would dive and ram them with it. It looked like it would be a deadly ram if so. Instead the Dragon merely thrummed above them, and as they were riding underneath, Faulklin let loose an arrow that hit the front row of white sacks straight on.

A black gas sprayed outward from where the arrow punctured and the Dragon rumbled as it dipped downward towards the sand, kicking up a plume as it went, and then leveled out again. It was still flying, but this time a little lower than before.

By the time it started to level out, Faulklin already fired another arrow into a second cluster of white pouches, the Dragon whistling in what Daijoudan perceived as pain. Even so, it continued on its gentle glide, showing no signs at all of hostility and no glaring red eyes. That was the most surprising thing of all, even when Faulklin shot the third and final cluster of gaseous pouches.

The Dragon dipped further, its belly briefly kissing the sand, and Daijoudan wondered if it would crash entirely to the earth. Instead it arched upwards, dipping up and down and continuing to glide, though the stabilizer wings near its head dropped down at an angle, as if to possibly catch it when it did fall flat, as Daijoudan assumed it would.

Instead, the very tips of its wings scored through the sand and kicked up a cloud, but it continued to move just the same as ever, circling around tall, solitary mounds of stone. At some points, its wings scored so deep that two-thirds of it disappeared. Daijoudan wondered how it didn't flip itself over by the sheer restriction of the sand halting its motion.

Daijoudan and Faulklin chased after it, holding their breath and squinting whenever they passed through a cloud of sand and trying to catch up to it, since clearly there was something else they were supposed to do now. Daijoudan saw what it was fairly easily, rows of graspable ledges traveling all the way up from its wing-tips to the socket of its shoulders. Once again, he was reminded that these creatures were seemingly crafted deliberately, as if someone had made them specifically to be climbed and defeated.

Had it been Dormin, or someone else? He wondered about that.

They matched pace with the Colossus from either side on their horses, balancing on the saddles as they unhooked from the stirrups and launched at its trailing wings when they each had their chance, climbing up each ledge as fast as possible without coming loose. Right before they reached its shoulders, the Colossus flicked its wings free from the sand and began to ascend quickly, taking them too high too quickly to get off safely.

Of course. Daijoudan had to have known something was off when the Dragon hadn't attacked them earlier. Somehow he got the feeling that they were going to find out exactly how aggressive it could get now that they were trapped right on top of it.

As soon as the angle for the Dragon's wings weren't to their disadvantage, they leapt to its furred back and ran down the length of it. As soon as they reached a risen flap on its back, barely any length down its back, the sword pulsed and a glyph began to come to life, beckoning them towards it. Faulklin drew his sword immediately and plunged it into the very center, making the Dragon's full body twitch and the Colossus itself keen.

Daijoudan left him there and kept going towards the next one. He knew that he had no way of knowing for sure where other weak points were, but he had a fairly good idea, and his white sword seemed to work on the Colossi.

Much as he hated to be helping Faulklin, he could at least try and speed things along. He didn't like Faulklin or his self-appointed missing at all, but he also knew that this was for Komeko, for Mamoru, and for potentially putting a stop to the war between his own country and this one. Maybe he was holding onto a shred of hope that he could prevent another tragedy in the meantime. Mamoru was not a person who deserved it if he could actually turn someone like Faulklin into even a partially-decent person.

Daijoudan felt a screech travel all the way through the form of the Dragon and saw the black mist of its blood pass him by, before it started to teeter from one side to the other. A backwards glance assured him that its eyes were still very much full of life - of course they were, that would be too easy if it only had one weak point - before it barrel-rolled through the air, forcing him to hold on for all his worth.

When it finally leveled out, correcting itself so sharply that he was almost thrown onto open air, he stood and sprinted the rest of the way to the center of its back where there was another risen flap, trying increasingly hard to keep from being blown sideways off of it by the high wind that the Dragon itself created with its own moving mass.

He managed to draw his sword and get one deep stab in before the large flap started to close downward and forced him to retreat, covering up the spot where a weak point may have been. Determined, he was ready to stab straight through the webbing to reach it, but saw the Dragon arch upwards and start to fold its wings back. It was going to dive.

"Oi!" Daijoudan called, even as Faulklin was running down its back and struggling to keep his own footing. "Hurry your ass up! Unless you want to be buried alive and crushed!"

Faulklin paused long enough to glance back and see what he meant, then continued his run as fast as was humanly possible towards the tail-end of the Colossus. Faulklin actually managed to catch up right as they reached its stony tail, both waiting for it to lose some momentum as it dove and leaping at the last few seconds before it could fully submerge.

Landing on the sand was much harder of a landing than Daijoudan had first assumed it might be, knocking the wind out of him for several moments and making his body ache all over. By the time he regained himself, the horses had reached them, and Faulklin was already scrambling into the saddle as the entire desert shifted and swam, trying to swallow them up like quick-sand. Daijoudan was a little slower to rise and get on his horse, and he might have been surprised that Faulklin didn't sneer something about it if not for the boy's single eye scouring their surroundings for where the Colossus would reappear from.

"We should probably keep moving about," Daijoudan suggested. "Personally I don't fancy the idea of it coming from right below us because we're standing still."

He couldn't tell if Faulklin was even listening, single blue eye sharply focused to an almost scary degree and nudging Rebel into a walk. They could hear the rumble from underground, but it was difficult to pinpoint, other than that it was growing further away.

Finally after several minutes, a shoveled nose speared upwards from the sand many meters away, near the original stone circle they'd arrived on. Faulklin kicked Rebel into a run and nocked an arrow. He didn't have the time or angle to catch the one on its chest nearest the face, but he managed to puncture the second bundle as it was twisting out of the sand, before it could even fully emerge.

Circling wide around it, he let another one hit the cluster beneath its tail as soon as it fully appeared from the earth so that it couldn't gain a great deal of altitude, and then quickly wheeled after the remaining one at its front. The wounds where both Faulklin and Daijoudan had stabbed just before the Colossus dove still sprayed a black stream skyward as it drifted about.

Faulklin easily hit the last one and barely missed getting rammed by its trailing underbelly as it dipped further down, trailing wings through the sand as it descended. Faulklin and Rebel galloped ahead of Daijoudan so that Faulklin could scale up its wing, and by the time Daijoudan got near enough to potentially jump, the Dragon was already climbing into the sky and Faulklin was running down its back, having reached the top before even then.

Daijoudan followed its path and matched pace as it flew, keeping his eyes focused above. At one point he saw Faulklin almost teeter off the edge, barely managing to grab a handful of fur in time as it rattled even the cliffs that it passed with its glide. Soon enough he saw a bigger plume of black blood escape the center of its back and Faulklin's small form quickly making up the distance towards another flap close to its tail, pausing only to hold on as the Dragon corkscrewed around upside-down and then right-side-up again.

After a few minutes, another black fountain burst from the Colossus's tail, and thickened again with an abrupt burst a few seconds afterwards. Daijoudan realized only a second before the Dragon gave a last, deafening scream that he was in a very bad spot, guiding Ayametsuki to the side and out of its shadow just before it backwinged and began to fall.

Its tail crashed into the sand and kicked up a massive cloud first, while its front reared skyward and its wings folded down. It arched to the side and fell into a huge half-moon shape, choking the air as it impacted. The black death veil was already spreading across its overly-long form. Faulklin slid down from its tail a moment later, looking quite pleased with himself as Daijoudan slowed his mare next to the boy.

"Well that was the easiest one by far."

Daijoudan had a feeling that had a lot to do with a gaining strength that wasn't his own.

Speak of the devil, the newest slain Colossus's black essence was snaking towards Faulklin now. The boy turned just before they plunged into him and stole the boy's consciousness.


End file.
